


Can I Sit Here?

by poeticcabbage



Category: Whose Line Is It Anyway? RPF
Genre: 1970s, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Gay, I don't like writing angst lol, M/M, their relationship isn't the issue here, this fic takes forever to get anywhere but I promise it will be worth it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2019-10-16 12:29:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 104,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17549705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poeticcabbage/pseuds/poeticcabbage
Summary: Greg is a senior in high school. When he realises he is gay, things start to get a little tough for him.This is a long story! You have been warned lol.





	1. Gay? It Was More Likely Than He Had Thought.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing this for nine months (I started writing in April 2018. It's now January 2019 as I write this up now.) I've only ever shared it with one person, mostly because I'm self-conscious about my writing, but people do know I've been writing something.
> 
> Someone convinced me to upload it here, so that's what I'm doing. Uploading it here. Please don't be harsh. I'm sister soft ;-;
> 
> Anyway, if you do decide to read this, thank you. I have worked really, really hard on it. Also, since I'm Australian, I'm constantly having to look up the American education system. So apologies if I get anything wrong. 
> 
> p.s, There's no particular city that this is based in. I've been picturing San Francisco without the peninsula, but it's not in San Francisco. The city is fictional.

The continuous sound of a pencil tapping the desk was normal for the students of this class. There was always one student doing it, but it always seemed to be the same one. The other students could easily ask that kid to stop but none of them felt like it. Each lesson there was a different rhythm, so it was almost like listening to a radio in class. A pencil could do wonders that way. Some kids even stared at it, amused and amazed how the teacher didn’t get bothered by it.

Greg was the student making that noise. This was one of his least interesting classes of the day, so he made up for it by tapping out the tunes to some songs he knew. Next to him sat Ryan, his best friend. They had met in middle school when they were both just twelve. Thankfully Ryan didn’t ask Greg to stop the tapping, but he was clearly a little annoyed by it. Greg could see him twitching.

Then the bell rang, loudly. It jolted Greg and the tapping stopped immediately. The other students began packing up, so Greg grabbed his things as the teacher rushed to finish what she was saying. In merely a few seconds he had his things packed and was waiting just outside the door for Ryan, who was working at a snail’s pace, clearly just to annoy Greg.

“Come on Ry, I don’t have all day you know,” Greg called over as the other students passed by him, casting him weird looks. He sneered back at them and looked back at Ryan. He towered over the rest of the students, being at least six foot six inches. Greg, on the other hand, was only around six foot. 

“I’m here, my bespectacled friend,” muttered Ryan as he got closer, looking down at Greg. “Let’s go, I’m starved.”

Greg nodded and they set off to their spot, where Colin was already waiting for them. Back in his sophomore year, they had claimed one of the tables out in the yard. It had a garden that wasn’t much of a garden, but there were a few trees and flowers. Their table was sheltered a little from the school’s view, but from the right angle, it could be seen. The yard wasn’t _that_ big. Greg bounced over, suddenly having five times the amount of energy he had in class before plopping down next to Colin on the bench, his bag dropping to the floor with a loud thump. He reached inside and pulled out his small lunchbox, took one glance at the sweets inside, frowned, and put it back.

“Hey Col, do you have any food for me?” he pouted. Colin ignored him and smiled at the tall boy who just arrived. They exchanged looks and Ryan sat down across from him. Greg squinted at Colin and repeated his question. This time, Colin answered.

“Don’t you have anything?”

“I mean…”

Colin sighed and handed Greg half of his sandwich. Greg gratefully took it and bit into it. Colin was a good chef, even if it was just a sandwich. He mumbled ‘thanks’ through a mouthful of food and turned to listen to Ryan and Colin’s conversation. His attention to the conversation didn’t last long. Greg tended to space out pretty quickly. Ryan always teased him and said he was staring at a particular someone, who he called ‘pretty boy’. But jokes on Ryan, Greg didn’t even know who that someone was. 

“What’d I miss?” Greg interrupted, suddenly refocusing.

“Weren’t you listening?” said Ryan, confused. He smiled again. “Well, you missed it now.”

Greg pouted and finished the last bite of his sandwich before climbing onto the table and laying back. He turned his head to Colin and grinned at him. Colin laughed a little.

“What are you doing?”

“Lying down. Isn’t it obvious?” he responded. 

Colin nodded. “I can see that. Only you’re _on_ the table.”

“We know who doesn’t need glasses.” Greg turned at Ryan, his grin still plastered on his face. Ryan laughed at him and prodded his side.

“Get up, loser.”

“Fine, damn, can’t someone enjoy anything around here?” Greg grumbled sarcastically. He wasn’t mad, far from it actually. Most of the time Greg would try and annoy Ryan and Colin, not so much that he was being an annoying douchebag, but enough to get them to smile or laugh. They weren’t his only friends, though. On other days Wayne would sit with them, as well as Chip and Brad. Only, Wayne had his own other friends, which were Jonathan and this girl named Tiffany. Chip and Brad were on the football team. Sometimes they would join Greg and his friends at recess, but it was unlikely.

“Hey Greg, can I ask you something?” Ryan questioned, as Greg climbed off the table and sat down again.

“Shoot.”

“Do you like, _like_ anyone?”

Greg thought about it. “Not really, no.”

“Are you sure?” Colin joined the conversation.

“I’m pretty sure I don’t have a crush on anyone. I would probably know if there were a cute girl around.” Greg defended. For a second Ryan made a face that Greg didn’t understand. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Well, it’s just…” Ryan looked away. “I’ve caught you staring at someone on multiple occasions. Even last year, in junior year.”

“Was it the same person?”

“Yeah,” Ryan confirmed. “And I think you have a crush on them but you just don’t know it.”

Greg hummed. “Who?”

Ryan looked at Colin before turning back to Greg. “Jeff Davis?”

For a moment no one said anything. Until, “Jeff? A guy?”

“You look at him a _lot_ , Greg.” Colin pointed out.

“How would you know? You’re not in any of my classes.” Greg furrowed his brow. “Anyway, I’m not gay. So I don’t have a crush on Jeff. I barely even know him. I think I’ve talked to him twice in my life.”

Jeff was in his homeroom, maths class, and art class. Jeff was tall and skinny, much like Ryan, and he had amazing hair. Quite often he wore a black leather jacket even if it wasn’t cool. In fact, his whole style was very Vivienne Westwood. It suited him very well. Greg couldn’t see him in anything else. Well, maybe because he _hadn’t_ seen him in anything else. From what Greg knew, Jeff read a lot and he wasn’t very good at maths. Sometimes when Greg sat near him in maths, he could see that he was drawing all over his book rather than actually doing work. In homeroom, he was usually reading.

Wait.

Did Greg stare at him? How would he know all of that if he wasn’t looking? No normal person would notice if someone read during homeroom all the time, or that their style was punk. The only way Greg would be able to tell these things about Jeff was if he had been looking at him. 

_Do I have a crush? On a guy?_ Greg thought to himself. _No, it can’t be possible. I’m not gay. Right?_

When recess ended he didn’t bother waiting for Ryan and Colin. He had to survive through the rest of the day. Which, was easier said than done. He endured the normal small pushes in the crowded hallways, and at least one or two people shouting at him. It’s not like Greg was bullied, far from it, actually, but there was always one or two kids who liked shouting. They were usually some of the football players with fragile masculinity and superiority complexes. For some reason, Greg stood out to them. 

Greg knew a few people on the team. Two were somewhat friends with him, which was obviously Chip and Brad. But he knew the team captain very well. Drew had always been rude to Greg, teasing him about nonsense that Greg didn’t understand why he thought it was necessary to bring up. One time Drew did punch him, a nasty sock in the jaw, but only once. That was back in middle school and it had been years since they’d had a direct conversation. Drew was one of the kids who occasionally wasted their energy on Greg in the hallway. He was a bit pudgy for a football player, took up a lot of space, with a bit more than a buzzcut, and Greg secretly knew that he wore glasses. The worst part was that they walked similar ways home. Luckily Greg was faster than him so he could avoid him, but there’s been more than one occasion where Greg needed to find another way home. Ryan was only seventeen, but he already had his own car, so that’s usually how Greg got home on those days. It was a nice car, too. Every time you went near it you’d be hypnotised with the smell of leather and almost blinded with how bloody shiny it was. If there was even a spot on the car Ryan would lose his shit.

When the school day was over Greg let his body flow with the wave of people leaving the front doors, spilling out onto the front parking lot of the school. With his hands in his pockets, he began the walk home. Many others caught the bus or drove home, something Greg couldn’t be bothered to do—catching the bus, that is. It was too much of a hassle to get money out to ride somewhere for five minutes than to walk somewhere in fifteen. Plus, he got some exercise out of it and it was usually a nice day. For at least a month or two the sun stayed out before it started getting colder and disappearing behind the clouds. One of the things Greg loved the most about the sun being out was warmth it brought with it. He liked wearing jackets and jumpers, but sometimes he would rather just chill in a shirt and jeans. 

This time while he was walking he walked slower than usual. Today was… weird. After what Ryan had asked at recess he hadn’t stopped thinking about it. Did he really think Jeff was that cute? Yes, he eventually admitted it. Jeff was a little cute. But he’d never really thought about a guy that way, or anyone now that he thought about it. If he did it would’ve been a long time ago and too long for Greg to recall properly. Thinking about it gave Greg butterflies, some of the good kind some of the bad kind. As he got the butterflies, an actual butterfly fluttered around him. Butterflies were beautiful. Why did they have to be associated with nerves? Was it to put a nicer touch on the fact that you felt like throwing up? Greg used to try and have pet butterflies as a child, but they would never last more than a week. 

Greg shook his head. He’d never even thought about the fact that he could be gay. It hadn’t crossed his mind for years, the first time he thought about it was when he was just starting puberty. Middle school. When he and Ryan met they were quick friends and, as kids do, had sleepovers. A year later Colin came into the picture and he was invited as well. The game they always played was truth or dare. Usually, the dares and truths they would ask were harmless, occasionally getting Ryan into a small bit of trouble, but other than that it was fine. But being middle school children they were… adventurous, for lack of a better word. Greg never had to do it but Ryan was dared to kiss Colin. By Greg, of course. Seeing it was probably Greg’s sexual awakening. It also happened more than once and each time Greg got thrilled. 

He made a face and kicked a rock. What if he was gay? What would his parents think? The only people he was sure who would accept him was Ryan and Colin. Maybe he just had a small crush on a guy, sure, but he could still get a crush on a girl one day, right? Jeff was the first guy he’d… _liked_. If you could call it that. So how could he know who he liked or didn’t like? Maybe his own stupid mind had convinced him it was a crush. Maybe it wasn’t one and he was just being dumb and jumping to conclusions. Yeah, that was probably it. Fuck, being a teenager was _hard_.

When he made it home he unknowingly slammed the door behind him. At least he was the only one home. Chucking his bag on the floor, Greg immediately made his way to the kitchen and grabbed some food. He wasn’t much of a cook, so anything quick was preferable. Turns out he grabbed a bag of chips. Perfect. Now that he had food he trudged through his house to his room. Out of all the rooms he’d been in, including his friends’, his own was his favourite for multiple reasons. The obvious reason was that he slept there, but also because of all the belongings he owned and collected over the years. It was a small room, but his bed was in the corner with a bedside table next to it. On top of the table were his most precious items. A stack of books, a signed baseball, a polaroid of Ryan, Colin and himself, and of course his glasses case. The stack of books were ones he’d read and fell in love with and would willingly read over and over again, or ones his friends had gifted him. The baseball was one he’d been given when he went to his first baseball game years ago with his dad. Lucky for him, the pitcher had signed the ball. Greg had almost fainted when it was given to him, and almost every time he looked at the ball he felt a bit giddy. Greg jumped on his bed and stared at the ceiling, letting out a frustrated sigh.

Gay? It was more likely than he thought.

Greg skipped to school. There was an unusual spring in his step and Ryan pointed out his bouncy behaviour. Ryan was Greg’s best friend, they had been for the amount of time they were in middle and high school. Well, most of it. Greg used to sit alone in the library at lunch because he had nothing better to do, no friends or anything, and he loved reading. He was being ridiculed by the older kids, and kids from the sports teams, mostly by Drew Carey and his friends. Anyway, he had seen (much like everyone else) one of the tallest 6th graders ever. Ryan, the fucking giant he is, at twelve years old was already the tallest kid in 6th and 7th grade. He was also, what kids called the class clown. 

Greg remembers a time when he could lay back in the library, reading a new book each week where no one would talk to him. Sometimes he wouldn’t find it fun, but the silence was reassuring. It meant no one was there to make fun of him for perhaps his glasses or his thin figure. But one day, Ryan had walked in the library, flipping off the few kids who actually followed him. Ryan had fallen down near Greg and Greg was on edge; Ryan was sitting near him. Greg had flipped his book down and stared, as creepy as that is. He was used to sitting alone and now that someone was near him he felt intimidated. The boy sitting near him had his eyes closed as if the world was going to shit and he was having a mid-life crisis, despite being only twelve. So Greg edged a little closer and almost dropped his book. Ryan looked up and Greg flinched.

Ryan smiled a toothy grin. “Hi.”

Greg nodded and smiled a small smile. “Hello.”

“I’m Ryan.” Ryan waved. Greg nodded again.

“I know.” 

Ryan looked at him suspiciously. “Who are you?”

“Greg.” Greg blushed very lightly. Ryan waved at him and turned away again. It was silent. Greg didn’t know how to interact with anyone that well. He’d never had a proper friend except for the first few years of school when kids weren’t so judgemental. He looked at Ryan. Despite the fact he was pretty popular, he looked nice. He didn’t look as if he would hurt anyone without a valid reason. Greg needed someone like that.

So Greg stood up and sat directly next to Ryan on the floor. Ryan was shocked, the shy kid from ten seconds ago was suddenly super clingy and annoying. They chatted for the rest of lunch, and Greg finally felt like he’d made a friend. The fact that they started hanging out and had been hanging out every day for the past six years proved it. Now, Ryan was what Greg considered his best friend in the whole wide world. He was super kind, like Greg had imagined, and listened when you needed him to. Ryan almost never got angry, but he could punch alright, as Greg experienced once before when he was being particularly bitchy one day. But all around, Greg felt safer around Ryan.

Because they had been friends for so long, they knew everything about each other. Except, Ryan didn’t know one thing. He didn’t know about Greg’s small crush on Jeff Davis. He had finally admitted it. Maybe Greg was a little attracted to Jeff. That didn’t mean he was gay, however. One man could simply appreciate the male figure and be a straight as a ruler. Though Greg knew Ryan wouldn’t give a shit if Greg was even a little bit queer anyway. Ryan himself was actually gay. He’d come out just over a year ago, by accident of course.

“Greg, you wanna come to my house after school?” Ryan’s voice interrupted Greg’s thoughts. Greg looked at him lazily.

“Sure. Why, wanna fuck?” Greg snickered, the idea of him being gay still fresh on his mind. Ryan wiggled his eyebrows and Greg burst out laughing. Colin looked between them, unimpressed but slightly amused. Ryan laughed at his reaction, his eyes creasing.

Colin rolled his eyes. “You know you aren’t going to do that.”

Greg also rolled his eyes, but he smiled while doing it. “Col, you know that while I find Ryan incredibly sexy and alluring and god, I would just _love_ to roam my hands _all over that_ -“

“Get to your point!” Colin managed between giggles. Greg snorted laughing.

“Okay, I would probably fuck him, but I’m not gay, surprisingly, so I won’t.” Greg nodded definitively. If he kept denying it, maybe they’d believe him. Or maybe he was trying to convince himself. Either way, it wasn’t working. Ryan and Colin shared a quick look but nodded in agreement.

“Sure…” Ryan dragged out the word and Colin elbowed him. Greg decided to ignore it and he continued walking bouncily up the stairs. Once on the top floor, he almost tripped over his own feet but managed to stand upright. He then bounced to the window and stared out of it at the kids down below. Since the school term had just started, so had the football season. Greg’s friends Charles Esten and Brad Sherwood were on the football team and they were out there, doing their thing before school. Greg didn’t know the first thing about football, he preferred baseball after all. So whenever Chip was talking about something the team did he simply looked at him with a blank expression. Brad is also his friend but they don’t sit together that often. Brad usually sat with his friends on the team. If they saw either Brad or Chip sitting with losers like Greg then they would be in trouble. The main reason was that the team captain was Drew Carey, the guy that had _always_ teased and bullied Greg. Drew could always be seen with at least two or three of the team hanging behind him. If they happened to run into Greg, Drew would manage to turn the team against him. The only people who didn’t believe Drew and his manipulations were Brad and Chip.

Ryan grabbed Greg’s arm and pulled him along. Greg stuck his hands in his pockets and followed the two of them. They were deep in conversation and Greg didn’t want to bother them so he stuck to trailing behind and looking around. The halls were starting to fill up with people now that school was about to begin. Greg could see people who he used to hate, people who he used to like, and people he didn’t even know. There were also some people who hated him, but he didn’t care much about them. They were nothing to him. He didn’t care that they used to pick on him in elementary for his name, or his glasses or how skinny he was. Greg was just over it at this point and it didn’t bother him. 

Greg looked ahead of them. Jeff was leaning on the wall halfway down the hall next to Greg’s homeroom, his satchel at his feet and a book in his hands. Greg looked at him as they got closer. He looked so… peaceful. The book he was reading had large letters that at the angle they were, Greg couldn’t read. Right as they were walking past him, Jeff glanced up at Greg and smiled a little. 

His face was gorgeous. His entire face was instantly carved into Greg’s mind, and Greg blushed and turned away, covering his face. Seriously, a small crush? Okay, it was official. Greg was pathetic. His entire face was warm. Ryan looked at Greg for a second and smiled, unaware of what was going through his mind. At that moment, the bell rang. Ryan and Colin continued walking away. Greg had to stay since his homeroom was right there. Next to Jeff. Greg turned around and tried to avoid looking at him. He leaned against the wall on the other side of the door.

Greg somehow managed to forget that Jeff was _in_ his homeroom class, even though he had been since the beginning of this year. Most of the time he tried his best to ignore the boy sitting on the other side of the room, but it was hard. Especially now that he knew he would often space out in his general direction. He was incredibly aware of what he was doing and there was no way he’d let his mind slip free.

Other kids had arrived now, and almost all of the kids from his homeroom were there. Mr Anderson arrived and unlocked the door, waltzing in. Greg waited for some people to go in first then he followed them, still ignoring Jeff. He sat down at his table. Thankfully, Jeff usually sat on the opposite side of the room—

“Can I sit here?” 

Greg looked up. Jeff gestured to the seat next to Greg with his book. Greg blinked at least twelve times before cautiously nodding his head. God damn it. Why would Jeff want to sit next to Greg of all people? He usually sat on the other side of the room! Greg swallowed nervously as he, Jeff, sat in the seat and instantly stretched his legs in front of him. For some reason, Greg felt that he was slightly closer than he should’ve been. Greg could feel his face heating up so he leaned on his hand, covering his face strategically so Jeff wouldn’t see. Out of the corner of his eye, Greg saw Jeff opening his book. Now that he was closer Greg could see what book he was reading. With those damn butterflies in his stomach again he cleared his throat.

“What are you reading?”

Jeff showed him the cover and smiled a small smile. “It’s called _The Shining_. It’s by Stephen King. Have you read it?”

“Oh, no.” Greg shook his head. “That’s not really my genre.”

“You should read it anyway.” Jeff went back to reading while their teacher, Mr Anderson stalked in and chucked his papers onto the desk. While he marked the attendance, Greg fiddled with his fingers and his leg was bouncing. This close proximity between him and Jeff was doing things to him. Greg could smell him he was that close. He didn’t smell of anything special, but there was a comforting feeling that Greg felt. Greg relaxed a little and breathed out a slow breath, trying to be as subtle as possible.

Homeroom ended just after that. Greg didn’t know time could fly so fast. Quickly he rose from his seat and made his way through the halls to his first class of the day, mathematics. He hated that he still had to do math in his senior year but if he wanted to graduate he had to do it. None of his friends was in this class or at least none that he would dare to sit with. Brad was in the same class but he sat with some other football players because he was on the team. If they saw Brad sitting next to Greg there’d be a mess. Greg didn’t mind, he kind of liked the silence.

Or so he thought. 

_Why does Jeff have to be in this class as well?_

At lunch, Greg lay on his back near the picnic table. He honestly couldn’t be bothered to sit up there, he wasn’t hungry. Today Chip and Wayne had come and joined them, so Greg decided not to be the fifth wheel. Ryan and Colin weren't together, they were just really close friends. Even though Ryan and Greg were best friends, Ryan had an almost telepathic bond with Colin. Greg didn’t mind, he wasn’t overprotective. Chip and Wayne weren’t together either. Wayne was straight, maybe a little flexible. Chip was either really gay or really straight, Greg couldn’t tell. It seemed like he had some internalised homophobia, possible from being on the football team. So Greg was laying on the grass, staring upwards into the tree and letting the others talk. The sun was shining through the leaves, but not bright enough to blind Greg. He ripped out some grass before laying it decoratively on his stomach. He continued to do this until there was a small pile of grass on him. Somehow, he’d amused himself and he started laughing. _’Tis just grass…_

“Greg?” Ryan turned and his face curled into amusement as well when he saw Greg was laughing at the grass pile on his stomach. Ryan shook his head and turned back to the others as Greg rolled over onto his stomach, destroying the grass pile. He looked up tried to see if Jeff was nearby. God, he really was obsessed, now that he knew he had a crush. Jeff was in his homeroom and his maths class, both times he sat next to Greg. Was he doing that on purpose? He seemed to be everywhere Greg went, and Greg found it slightly unnerving, but part of him wasn’t complaining because Jeff was near him a lot. 

Off in the distance, there was a large brick wall that separated the two school buildings, covered in decorative vine. A few years back, before Greg had even begun dreaming about high school, a massive hurricane tore through the city and ruined the school. Originally the school had three buildings and was one of the most prestigious public schools in the area, known for its clean exterior and nicely decorated interior. The government had spent a lot of money on it, and most of the city was devastated when the hurricane came. They only ever had enough money to fully replace two of the three buildings and were planning to knock down the third but they still haven’t done it after eight years. Greg suspects they never will. The two buildings they did replace are what the school is now, and they built walkways in between and hallways connecting the building so it seemed like one giant school. A large portion of money also went to the football field and bleachers- that still is quite shitty, in Greg’s opinion. The third building was rotting where it stood, and only three years ago (when Greg was a freshman) they thought about doing a cleanup and brought all the trophies and the leftover equipment that was still okay. A bunch of old guitars were ruined in the hurricane from being thrown around, and one of them even tore through a drum head. Greg had never been inside, but he thought it was interesting. Since the hurricane, the school’s reputation has gone a little… downhill. That explains how Greg got into the school. He would never have gotten in if it was still as prestigious as it was.

About halfway along the brick wall was an archway and small alley that led to the third building, and Ryan always said that was just an invitation to the druggies. A few seats lined the wall, along with art from graffiti artists that the teachers couldn’t be bothered to clean anymore. In one of the seats, Greg recognised a figure with spiky black hair sitting and… reading? It was hard to tell from the distance he was. Greg flopped back down onto his stomach and looked in the direction of Jeff. God, he really was obsessed.

Greg absentmindedly began playing with the grass in front of him with one hand, leaning on the other. He knew his hand would get pins and needles from lying in this position. A tiny flower was felt in-between Greg’s fingers so he tore his gaze away from Jeff for just a second to study the tiny flower. It was only just budding, and all Greg could think of was ‘too late, broheim.’ It wasn’t going to be spring anytime soon, having just started the school year a week and a half ago. However, the flower was cute and Greg decided to let it be for now and see how much it would grow in the coming weeks. Once again he looked back up to where Jeff was, but Jeff was gone. Where did he go?

“Hey Greg, you coming straight to mine after school or what?” Ryan’s voice interrupted Greg’s thoughts once again; this happened a lot.

Greg looked up at him. “Uh, sure.”

Greg followed him home like a lost puppy, bouncing behind him and trying to reach his height. Usually Ryan would drive to school but apparently, he didn’t today, which annoyed Greg. He didn’t want to walk all the way to Ryan’s house, but he also didn’t want to catch the bus. When they got to Ryan’s home he pushed open the back door into the kitchen. Ryan had three brothers, two older and one younger. Already Greg had forgotten the older brothers’ names because they’d moved out, but he knew the youngest, who was Stephen. Ryan always teased Stephen, saying he was an accident because he and Ryan had such an age gap. Greg was convinced he was born only to teach Ryan and his older brothers how to take care of a child.

“Hey, Steph!” Greg greeted the boy. He had to be at least ten now. Stephen looked up.

“Greg!” The child ran up and tackled Greg into a hug. Stephen had curly blonde hair, just like Ryan did when he was his age. Ryan gave him a look of sympathy and headed upstairs, leaving Greg.

Greg laughed awkwardly. “How’ve you been Steph-o?”

“I’m alright! How are you Greg?” he smiled a toothy grin, showing a few missing teeth. He was so much like Ryan it was adorable. 

“Not too bad.” Greg nodded.

“Cool!” Stephen giggled. “Did you know you’re my favourite of Ryan’s friends?”

“I didn’t,” Greg raised an eyebrow. In reality, he did know because Stephen kept telling him, but obviously, he had to pretend he didn’t. “Look, I’ll see you later okay? I’m gonna go hang with Ryan.” He reluctantly left Stephen and sprinted upstairs. Ryan was laying on his floor facedown, only a few inches from the bed.

Greg asked why, and Ryan laughed into the carpet. “I fell over. Didn’t you hear a thump?”

“No,” Greg snorted. Greg stepped over Ryan and fell onto the bed rather than the floor. Ryan finally got up and sat next to him, playfully hitting Greg’s stomach on the way. Greg faked a wheeze and glared sarcastically at Ryan. They sat up together and sat in silence. Before too long, Ryan suddenly turned to Greg, something pressing apparently on his mind.

“Greg, after recess yesterday you were acting a little strange,” he finally said. “And since I’m your best friend, I’m worried about you.”

“To be fair, you did ask me if I had a crush on a guy. Which I thought you’d forgotten about…” Greg admitted, trailing off. He sunk lower onto the bed and hid his face. Ryan leaned over him and laughed a little, saying nothing. Finally, Greg peeked out of his hands. “Okay. Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

“I promise.” Ryan traced an ‘x’ over his heart.

Greg pursed his lips and nodded, moving his hands and building up the courage. “Ryan… I think I might be gay.”

“That _really_ doesn’t surprise me.”

Greg punched his shoulder and scowled. “Thanks, asshole. Did you somehow know before me?”

“Yeah, there’s this… quality about you. I always had suspicions,” he wiggled his eyebrows and Greg threatened to punch his shoulder again. “What? I’m being serious. I really had caught you staring at the pretty boy multiple times. That’s what confirmed it in my opinion.”

“Pretty boy?” Greg questioned, though he had a sneaking suspicion that he knew who Ryan was talking about. He felt his face burn a little.

“What, do you want me to spell it out for you? J, e, f-“

“Okay, I get it!” Greg rolled his eyes and blushed a bit more, trying to hide his face from Ryan. “I didn’t actually realise until yesterday after you asked me that.”

“How could you not realise? You’re almost eighteen.”

“Well I never really thought about it,” Greg complained. “It wasn’t a pressing thought on my mind that I might be gay. Sure, I was bullied for being slightly too effeminate for everyone’s liking but it didn’t make me think about that kind of thing.”

Ryan smiled. “Well, I mean, at least you know now.”

Greg nodded. “Yeah.”

Ryan brushed the topic away like it was nothing and kept on chatting to Greg about some book he’d been reading. Greg was glad Ryan didn’t make a fuss about anything, or that conversation would’ve gone a lot differently. Ryan wasn’t fazed at all when Greg let his body fall and he landed across Ryan’s legs. This had happened more than one time, so it was pretty much normal for Greg to do this. The two of them were as close as brothers. Since Ryan was his first real friendship, he was afraid of what would happen if they drifted apart. Hopefully, they would be friends for life.

Eventually, the two of them decided to go downstairs and eat some food. Ryan’s mom would definitely be home by now, Greg wasn’t sure about his dad. Greg followed Ryan down and smiled warmly at Mrs Stiles.

“Hello, Kelly.” he greeted. She looked up.

“Oh! Hello Greg. I didn’t know you were coming over.” she grinned back. “It’s always a pleasure having you here.”

“He always shows up unexpectedly,” Ryan joked. “Sometimes he just follows me, or sneaks in at midnight.”

Greg whacked Ryan on the arm. “I do _not_.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. It was partially true. Greg did sometimes sneak out of his home and to Ryan’s in the middle of the night purely because he was bored. Ryan’s room was on the second floor so he couldn’t exactly jump in through the window because he wasn’t able to climb that well. Greg found it easier to go through a different window and sneak through the house. The first time Greg had snuck in Ryan had found him in the living room, with tear stains on his cheek. They were still in middle school then, and it was when they were just friends and not best friends, so it was a little weird, but since he was crying he didn’t mention anything. Quickly after that and after a few more times of Greg sneaking in, they were best friends.

Kelly didn’t bother asking about the sneaking in. Maybe she knew about it. “You know you’re welcome to stay for dinner, Greg.”

“Oh, yes please,” Greg said without hesitation. “Your family is so much kinder than mine.”

“I’m sure that’s not true, Greg.” She folded some dish towels and stashed them in a drawer.

“Um, have you met my dad?” Greg raised a single eyebrow. “He’s a dick.”

“I thought your dad was lovely when I met him.” Kelly leaned against the counter. 

“He was putting on a façade. Or fackade, if you will.” Greg pointed out. Ryan snickered. Kelly rolled her eyes.

“I don’t believe you for a second Greg. He is a lovely man and your mother is lucky to have him.”

Greg threw his hands up in surrender. Ryan grabbed some sodas from the fridge as well as two muffins. Kelly warned them to take it slow because dinner would be soon, but that just made Greg tempted to grab more and eat them all. Unfortunately, Ryan dragged Greg out to the back porch and they sat in the hammock. They always sat here, ever since middle school. It was their hammock, and supposedly no one else was allowed in it. Whenever Greg was around, that was true. He didn’t know about when he wasn’t here.

Greg nestled into Ryan’s shoulder, drinking some more of his soda. They had both wolfed down their muffins despite Kelly’s warning to take it slow. Off in the distance, Greg could see thunderclouds, which soon going to take over the entire sky above them. Greg loved that kind of weather, as long as he wasn’t _in_ the rain. It didn’t tend to fare well for his glasses, and they usually would steam up or be covered in water within seconds. But he loved to sit just at the edge where the rain couldn’t get him and just watch it pour for at least a good hour. 

Sooner or later Ryan was going to bring it up again, and it turned out to be the former. He rested his arm around Greg while Greg leaned on his shoulder, and cleared his throat.

“What is it about Jeff?” 

Greg snorted. “Really? That’s your question?”

“I’m curious.” He answered simply.

Greg thought about it. What was it about Jeff? Greg had never talked to him so he had no clue what he was like, and he was going off looks alone. Jeff didn’t have big muscles, muscles weren’t much of a turn on for Greg anyway, at least, that’s what he realised in the past day. But Jeff was thin, and his face was chiselled. He had a strong jawline, and damn, his hair was amazing. At least it was to Greg. Even when he was straight. It was the perfect mix of messy and neat at the same time, and no matter what it just looked good. Usually, it was styled into a soft quiff style that really suited his face. Jeff also had a really good style, which was just another suspicion that he was gay. 

Greg didn’t realise he was saying all of it out loud until Ryan laughed. “It sounds like you really like him.”

Greg’s cheeks burned red. “I mean, with the description I just gave… can you blame me? You made me realise I had a crush and suddenly all these reasons came to me last night at once. It was overwhelming.”

“Don’t worry, I agree with you. He is pretty hot.” Ryan drank from his own soda. Greg had finished his a while ago and was fiddling with the can, something he did unconsciously from time to time. He was a pretty fidgety person.

“He gives off gay vibes. Doesn’t he?” Greg thought aloud. “Like, the way he dresses and styles his hair is a dead giveaway.”

“I mean… yes?” Ryan shrugged. “You can’t really assume anything.”

“No, you can’t. But I’m telling you he’s gay,” said Greg definitively. “At least, I hope he is.”

The conversation stopped there. They sat in another comfortable silence until Ryan’s mom called them in because it was dinner time.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you read all of this, thank you. Like I said, I worked really hard on it :)
> 
> Even though I've been writing for nine months, within those nine months I reached 70,000 words then deleted half of it because the plot was awful, and I skip chapters and add a new chapter in between chapters so my writing is all over the place. I think I've got up to three chapters where they're all complete lmao.
> 
> EDIT 11th July 2019: I wish I could come back and edit this, but it would mean changing some things. The only downside of uploading lmao.


	2. Truth Or Dare?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg hangs out with Ryan and Colin on the weekend and plays truth or dare with them. Then he accidentally comes out to his sister, Sara, while tipsy.

Whenever Greg hung out with Colin and Ryan outside of school they _always_ went to a specific cafe. It was named The Red Rose since there were plenty of rosebushes and singular roses inside. The Red Rose was located in the middle of the city and it was fairly popular, but not among the students of Greg’s school. Inside the cafe were four booths lined up next to the window and square tables in the middle. On the left side near the corner, furthest from the door was the jukebox. A framed picture of the owner’s family was hung up above the jukebox, and next to it was a lovely red rose bush. At the opposite side was the bar, attached to the counter. It was a navy red bar accompanied by red barstools on the left (furthest from the door) and a decorative wine rack on the right. The counter was separated from the bar by the wine rack and had a glass case underneath showing off all the different pastries and cakes you were able to buy. Once again, a rose bush was presented but instead of being large it was a smaller type. The cafe also served breakfast foods all day such as scrambled eggs and bacon, croissants, English muffins and raisin toast. Drinks included the alcohol served at the bar, coffees, teas, hot chocolate, soft drinks, and water, but mostly they served milkshakes. 

Now they were sitting in their favourite booth. It was the third from the door and when they first came here, Greg had run ahead to sit in it and they’d been doing so ever since. Ryan was casually drinking a cup of steaming hot coffee, Colin drinking a not-as-hot cup of tea, and Greg drinking a coffee as well, despite never usually drinking coffee. He was more of a hot chocolate guy. It was pouring rain today, something unusual for mid-September, and the wind had picked up so the rain was everywhere. When they’d managed to get inside each of their coats were soaked so they were now piled up next to Greg, who had the spare seat next to him. Around the cafe were patrons who worked on weekends, having their lunch break. In the background was the jukebox, blaring some jazz song Greg didn’t immediately recognise. Both Colin and Ryan turned towards Greg when he managed to spill coffee all down his front.

Ryan burst out laughing and Colin snickered at him.

“Golly,” Greg muttered, standing up. Before he could walk far, a napkin was thrown in his direction. Greg jumped and Colin laughed harder.

“We have napkins here, silly,” Colin informed him. Greg mimicked him and sat down again, grabbing the napkin and dabbing at his shirt. The coffee was hot against his skin, but it wasn’t hot enough to give him a burn. It felt like warm water. When it was all gone Greg had to get up anyway to put the napkins—and his now empty coffee cup—in the bin. A few people glanced back as he strutted past them but not enough to be noticeable. One of the bartenders noticed Greg’s coffee stained shirt and shook his head, laughing to himself.

When Greg got back to the table he returned his focus back to the window and what was happening outside. Luckily the traffic wasn’t too bad in this part of the city, or it’d take them ages to get back to Colin’s house. Colin chugged the rest of his tea and threw the cup at Greg, something Greg would often do to Colin but since his coffee went down his front, he couldn’t do it. Greg squawked when the cup bounced off his head.

“What was that for?” He groaned. He wasn’t actually mad.

“You always do it to me.” Colin grinned, shaking his head. His fringe flopped over his eyes as he shook his head, then he brushed it away with his hand. It always fell over his eyes, and Greg seriously thought he should get a haircut.

“Yeah, with _love_ ,” Greg argued playfully. 

Colin laughed. “You throw cups at me with love?”

“Yeah, think of it a blessing.”

Colin continued to laugh and Ryan shook his head, smiling. Colin then got up and excused himself to the bathroom, leaving Greg and Ryan on their own.

“Wait, I can’t function without my mother—“ Greg called after Colin teasingly. Colin didn’t look back as he walked off. Ryan smirked, bringing the hot cup of coffee still in his hands to his lips. Ryan then slumped over in his seat.

“I don’t like the rain very much,” he pouted. “It means I have to keep the hood of my car up.”

Greg rolled his eyes. “Would you rather your car get wet? It needs to be up anyway because it could get, uh, I don’t know… stolen?”

“Yeah, but then I have to _keep_ it up when I’m in it. I’m tall, unlike you.”

“Hey, I’m at least six feet!”

“And I’m six-six. Your point?” Ryan smirked.

Greg waved his hand towards Ryan. “I’m not _that_ short, I’m actually quite tall. You’re just freakishly huge.”

This time Ryan rolled his eyes. “Thanks.”

“You have to admit, it’s true. Colin is also tall, but you’re still four inches bigger than him.” Greg pointed out. “So, freakishly huge.”

“We get it, I’m a giant. But at least I can reach the top shelf,” he grinned.

"I can reach the top shelf just fine." Greg squinted and rested his chin on his arms just as Colin returned from the bathroom. Ryan still drank from his own coffee, though Greg doubted it was still hot. Warm, at the least. Greg absentmindedly grabbed a serviette and started folding it into random shapes, and unfolding it over and over again. Colin and Ryan talked amongst themselves, letting Greg do his own things. In this case, fold serviettes out of boredom. 

After a while, the three of them left The Red Rose and to Ryan’s car, where he drove them just a few blocks down to the mall. Greg hadn’t been to the mall for months at least, for he had no need to buy any new clothes no matter how much he loved having new clothes to wear. He’d fallen into a state where he would wear almost the same thing every day because he couldn’t be bothered to choose different things that made him look good in different ways. Before he used to care perhaps way too much about his looks, always styling his hair and always changing into and out of at least two or three different outfits each morning, trying to find the look that made him look the best on that particular day. ‘No’ was a word occasionally used on those mornings. 

Now that he was in the mall, he could see so many clothes that he so badly wanted. For once he had his own money, having done chores around his house to get some cash. Since he could buy his own things today, he needn’t beg Ryan to buy it for him, which he usually did. Ryan wasn’t rich, but his parents both worked, and his two older brothers, from sixteen until they moved out, were able to provide an income. His parents had jobs that paid well, unlike Greg’s dad. It was rare that Greg got money in the first place for doing chores, this time he was just lucky.

Greg pulled both Ryan and Colin into almost every store, trying on at least one item in each. By the time they left he got a pair of jeans, boots, a red, white and cyan bomber jacket, and three different shirts; one with skulls, one with a movie reference, and one with a strange pattern on it. Ryan himself had bought a new pair of shoes and Colin got a new jacket, much less than what Greg bought. 

“Surely you have enough clothes, Greg.” Colin mused as they strolled back to Ryan’s car. The sun was finally out again, but the clouds were still dense. 

Ryan answered for him. “He never has enough clothes.”

“I hadn’t bought anything for _months_ , it’s a record for me.” Greg grinned. Ryan patted him on the back.

“Well done, buddy.” 

Colin laughed at them both. Ryan and Greg joined in after a few seconds. There were barely any people on the street around them, despite being a Sunday. Puddles were everywhere and the child in Greg lit up, so he jumped in them when he walked near them, laughing like an idiot when it splashed Ryan in the face. Greg was so incredibly happy that he had friends like Ryan and Colin, ones that wouldn’t judge him about anything or get mad at him for little things. It was cheesy but realistic and ideal. He smiled a great big smile at both of them, which they returned toothy grins to. 

“Shotgun!” Greg shouted when he spotted the car. Immediately he raced towards it, somehow not slipping once on the slippery pavement. Colin followed him, sliding to a finish next to the car, slapping his hand on it.

“Unfair! I didn’t… even see the car…” he gasped. 

“Too bad!” Greg laughed, coughing a little. “Geez, I’m unfit…”

Colin grimaced and nodded. “Me too, Greg…”

Ryan strolled up, highly amused. He climbed into the car, starting the engine and letting the roof roll down. Colin politely opened the door and stepped into the backseat and placing all the bags next to him, whereas Greg simply climbed over the passenger side door. Ryan rolled his eyes. “I’ve asked you not to do that.” He warned, but Greg ignored him. No matter how many times Ryan warned him, he’d never do anything about it. They zoomed off, driving to Colin’s house to hang out.

Greg had only met Colin’s mother twice, but she was the sweetest woman he’d ever met. The first time Greg had visited she immediately shoved baked goods down his throat and showered him with compliments. She was a huge contrast to his own mom. To Greg, whenever she came into the room she glowed because she always had a smile and she always had food. Greg could tell she was accepting to whatever her children decided to be and it warmed Greg’s heart. She really, really loved Colin with all her heart because he was the youngest, and while she spoiled him a little she still brought him up to be one of Greg’s most kind-hearted friends. He really took it from his mom. All four of Colin’s siblings lived out of home now, and a couple even lived in Canada. Greg hadn’t been his friend long enough to meet all of them, but he met the second youngest, Tim. Contrary to Colin, he wore his hair big and rebelled a lot. It must be because he was a middle child. At least, that’s what Greg assumed.

Ryan pulled to a stop in front of Colin’s house, Greg jumping over the door yet again as he turned off the engine. This time Ryan said nothing, but he rolled his eyes. When both he and Colin were out of the car (Colin’s bags in tow) he let the roof go down and they all walked up the path to Colin’s front door. Colin didn’t live in a big house. When he was younger and his siblings still lived with the family he had to share with his two brothers, while his two sisters shared another room. It was only the ground floor, and there was only one bathroom. For seven people that's squishy. for four people, like in Greg’s family, that was alright. The outside of the house was painted yellow and there was a row of yellow roses in the front. The first time Greg visited he assumed it was Colin’s mom who planted them, but it turned out to be his dad, who was a gardener. Colin’s house was always clean, except for the second room where his sisters slept. 

The three of them stampeded into the house and greeted Col’s mom. Just like usual, she had a plate of cookies that Greg immediately took a few of, shoving them into his mouth. Colin’s mom smiled appreciatively while Colin punched his arm.

“Slow down, Greg,” he said part-jokingly, part-serious. Greg shrugged with a raised eyebrow and ate another one as sarcastically as he could. Colin sighed. “Hey, mom.”

“How are you, boys? It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Greg,” she side-hugged him, and Greg noticed she was about an inch or two shorter than him. “Ryan, I saw you just last week but I already miss you! Probably more than my own son.”

She laughed at her own joke. Colin looked embarrassed by his mom’s behaviour whereas Ryan and Greg found it hilarious. Colin waved bye to his mom and they all left to his room. Greg, of course, grabbed a few more cookies for them all to share. In Colin’s room was his bed, which he was currently sat upon, and a desk where Ryan was perched. Greg joined Colin on the bed and presented the cookies he’d taken.

“Greg, I told you to slow down.” Colin playfully flicked his ear.

“Can you blame me? These cookies are fucking delicious.”

“They are really good, Col. Hey Greg, toss me one.” Ryan agreed with Greg. Greg threw one over to him which he thankfully caught. Colin rolled his eyes and took a cookie, Greg then eating the last one. 

“Hey, you know what we should play?” said Greg. “We should play truth or dare.”

Colin lifted his head from laying down. “We haven’t played that in _ages_.”

“What are you, twelve?” Ryan teased Greg.

“Maybe.” Greg shrugged. “C’mon, it’ll be fun.”

After some more nagging they both agreed to play with Greg. They made him go first, asking him the age-old question of—

“Truth or dare?” They asked in unison. Greg grinned.

“Truth.”

“Pussy,” Ryan smirked under his breath.

“Just you wait, Ry. I can make you do whatever I want in a moment.” Greg raised an eyebrow.

Colin shushed both of them. “Have you had your first kiss?”

Greg tried his best to try and will the oncoming blush away. He was eighteen and no one had ever kissed him, and Ryan and Colin were about to find out about it. Oh well, here goes nothing. 

“No.”

“HOW?”

Greg jumped at Ryan’s voice, automatically lifting his hands up to his face as a defence. “What do you _mean_ how?”

“How have you not kissed anyone?” Colin was equally as surprised. “Considering how many times we’ve played this game you’d think you might’ve kissed Ryan or me, but apparently not.”

“I’ve only ever made you two kiss, you never thought about using me.” Greg snickered, lowering his arms. “Not that I want to kiss you anyway.”

Ryan waved his arms around. “Let’s just move on. Greg is a virgin in every which way possible, done. Now, it’s your turn, Greg.”

Greg rolled his eyes at Ryan’s statement and turned to Colin. “Truth or dare, Col?”

“Dare.”

“Kiss Ryan.”

Both of them started complaining and laughing. They did it anyway, unusually comfortable with kissing each other now than before. They looked like a couple. It was unbelievable. Greg had no idea about Colin’s sexuality anyway so there was no way of knowing for sure. Still, it looked pretty romantic to Greg.

Even though they’d just teased Greg about never having his first kiss despite being almost eighteen, they never used a dare on him to kiss Ryan or Colin. In Greg’s mind, he was a little hurt but relieved at the same time. He wanted to save it for someone special. 

More specifically, Jeff.

  


After a sudden awakening, Greg was now lying face down on the couch in the living room. His sister, Sara, was the villain who woke him up and was smirking on the other seat. Her legs were crossed and she always sat up straight, just so she could look taller and more defined. They always had a sibling rivalry growing up but as they got older it was more thought out and turned into a more love-hate relationship. Sara waking Greg up during a nap was a regular thing, much to Greg’s dismay, but he still got her back in different ways. He also had dirt on her that he was able to blackmail her with if she got too rowdy and scary.

“You are dead to me,” Greg muttered into the couch cushion. Sara perked up.

“What? I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you.” Greg could _hear_ the smirk in her voice. She was such a prat.

Greg flipped her the bird without looking and rolled over so his face wasn’t in the cushion. Sara laughed at him and stood up, stretching. Greg watched as she wandered over to the couch Greg was on and grunted as she sat on him, effectively trapping him. He didn’t bother fighting it, she’d done this countless times before. Sara wasn’t a force to be reckoned with unless she _really deserved it_. Both of them will admit they love each other, but never out loud. They go places together sometimes when the parents are too difficult to deal with or their friends ditched. This often leads to Greg going shopping with Sara, but he didn’t mind. If he got new stuff he was fine with anything, really. 

Greg almost fell asleep again, even with Sara sitting on top of him, but she grabbed the remote and turned on the television. The volume was a lot higher than expected, and Greg jumped. He looked at what was on. Nothing, it was just an advertisement. He rolled his eyes and closed them again as Sara got even more comfortable on top of him; Greg groaned as she squished her backside into his back.

“Can’t you sit on the other couch?” He grunted, flinging his arm back in an attempt to hit her. She poked his sides and he flinched.

“This is _way_ more comfortable, sitting on your back. Plus, I know it hurts you.”

“Sara you know you’re like, _two thirds_ my size right? You aren’t heavy. Just annoying!” He groaned.

Sara jabbed her finger at his side again and he struggled underneath her. “Are you calling me anorexic? I know I’m annoying, but I’m not anorexic.”

Greg opened his eyes again. “I’m gonna throw you to the other side of the room.”

“I’d like to see you try, I think you’re too much of a pussy to do it!” Sara challenged, twisting and grabbing onto his sides. Greg forced himself up and she almost fell down. Greg smirked and they began to wrestle, swiping at each other but not hard enough to hurt the other. Finally, Greg managed to grab onto her wrists and force her into a headlock.

Sara struggled under his grip. “You are deceptively strong…”

Greg snickered. “You tapping out?”

“Never!” She cried out, laughing and using one of her hands, swiped backwards and hit Greg pretty damn close to his private parts. Greg yelped but didn’t let her go, but Sara kept trying to hit him there until he would let her go. Eventually, he did, but when he did he pushed her so she wouldn’t be so close to him.

“Begone, Sara!” He said in a cartoon voice. “Your bad vibes aren’t wanted here no more!”

“I could say the same about you…” Sara puffed. “You are crazy violent for someone who looks like they accept punches from people."

“I don’t accept punches from people, they just give them to me for free! I don’t even have to ask,” quipped Greg. He folded his arms and leaned his weight onto one leg.

“Keep telling yourself that,” she retorted back and decided to leave the room. Greg rolled his eyes back as far as he could and turned off the television so he could follow Sara into the kitchen. Their squabble ended abruptly and they were back to normal. Their parents had gone out for dinner, as they often did. Greg’s mom forces Greg’s dad to go out, and she thinks he isn’t thrilled, but Greg knows that he is secretly ecstatic to get away from his children. So either Sara or Greg had to cook dinner. Only, neither of them knew how to cook _anything_. Greg refused to cook at all so Sara had to try. Right now she was staring at the stove which actually had nothing on it. 

“Are we gonna eat tonight?”

“We could order food?” she suggested desperately. Greg nodded quickly. “Okay. Pizza?”

“Pizza.” 

Sara fist-pumped and jumped for the phone so she could order the pizza. Greg sat on the barstool and waited, not really caring what Sara ordered. It was rare that he ate a full pizza anyway. They always put too much sauce on the bases so all the toppings were practically drowning. It wasn’t a great taste. However, he did manage to hear Sara order one with a light sauce. So he might just eat that one. When she hung up the phone she jumped up onto the counter and sat in a comfortable silence.

For some reason, Greg felt confident. Should he tell her? There was no logical reason for Sara to hate him, especially for this. Some of her past boyfriends had turned out to be gay and she was still friends with them. Though to be fair, it should’ve been obvious when she had started dating some of the drama boys. Honestly, you have to expect it when you choose them.

But he was feeling a comfortable, kind of accepting vibe coming off Sara right now. The moment was right and their parents weren’t around so he was safe from that at least. The kitchen light was the only light on in the house right now and it gave the area a homely vibe that Greg couldn’t really describe. A few times Greg opened his mouth then closed it. Suddenly he was thankful Sara wasn’t facing him. Should he say it? He’d only said it to one person and that was Ryan. Colin didn’t even know unless Ryan had told him or he had an incredible power that allowed him to read minds. Though, it seemed likely.

Greg decided on not telling her then. He had to tell her soon though. Maybe later that evening. Sara was his closest friend outside of school. It would be unfair for her to not know. They sat around in the silence for a while. When the pizza came Sara made Greg get the door.

“Hey—oh hello Chip.”

Chip grinned at Greg, a couple boxes in his hands. “Hey, Greg.”

“You deliver pizza?”

“Yep,” he admitted almost sadly. “Apparently football isn’t enough for my parents and I have to get money as well. I don’t know how long I’m gonna be delivering pizzas though.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Here.”

Greg grabbed the pizzas from him. “Thanks. Take this, keep the tip.”

He handed Chip a couple of bills, which he took hesitantly. “You sure?”

“Sure. You’re my friend.” Greg smiled. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow, Chip.”

“See ya, Greg,” Chip waved bye and he smiled at the money in his hand. “Thanks.”

Greg closed the door and brought the pizzas back to where Sara was still sitting on the counter. This time she was cross-legged and leaning on her elbows. 

“I’m starving, thanks.” She grabbed one of the boxes and instantly began digging into the food. Greg did the same with the other box, munching slowly on the pizza.

After a while, they had stopped eating and were sitting, drunkenly in the dark of Sara’s room. Greg rarely ever drank, and the same with Sara, but since neither parent was home and they had access to the alcohol cabinet… It was Sara’s idea and she grabbed out the vodka. Greg shrugged, agreed and slammed a glass down onto the counter as if he was a lonely widower at a bar. Sara giggled and poured the drink. And now, three drinks each later, Greg and Sara were lying head-to-toe on her bed with only the light of the lava lamp in the corner.

“Get—get this…” Sara laughed. “One of my boyfriends, right, one of my boyfriends, he just… stopped talking to me one day? At, at school, thinking that if he, if he ignored me it’d be alright!”

Sara was a mess. She was laughing at what wasn’t even that funny. But then again, so was Greg. He burst out laughing at Sara’s story. “Re-Really? Did he think that? What a loser!”

They both snort-laughed at the thought and nothing rational was really going through Greg’s mind and the words fell out of his mouth before he knew what he was saying.

“None of _my_ boyfriends have ever done that,” he slurred, still laughing. “Might be because I’ve never _had_ a boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend? Don’t you mean girlfriend?”

Greg was silent for a few moments before he sat bolt upright, his hand clamped over his mouth. “No. Oh, fuck.”

Sara burst out laughing again and Greg felt his entire face flushing. 

“I can’t _believe_ you just did that!” Her laughs were shrill and Greg whacked her on her side. 

“Shut up!”

She tried to calm herself down and thankfully it worked. She breathed in a deep breath and she sat up as well, looking Greg into his eyes. Or, as well as she could in the dark. “Are you gay?”

“Yes…” Greg sighed, defeated. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t accept you?” She rested a hand on his thigh.

“No, it’s not that.” He shook his head. “I just wasn’t sure of myself. I only realised a week ago and I’ve only told Ryan.”

“Well, Ryan is gay as well, right?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Obviously he would accept you."

“But I just—it’s been hard, y’know? I only _just_ realised after… after I saw this _really_ cute guy…” he figured he may as well tell Sara about everything, including Jeff.

“Oh?” She perked up. This is the stuff she knew about.

Greg couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “Yeah. His name is Jeff and he is so cute. He’s in my homeroom, maths class and art class. His face is soft but he still has this perfect jawline that could cut me… he dresses fantastically, his hair is so perfect and it looks so soft…”

Greg looked at his hands sadly. “You know… I’ve probably been crushing on him for a few months but I never realised. He’s been at this school since freshman year, I know that. But he was never in my classes until junior year, where he was suddenly in my art class. He didn’t really… he never sat near me so I never really talked to him but often I would catch his eye. See him around the hallways. One time he _smiled_ at me. He talked to me the other day and I just… ugh.”

Sara smiled at Greg. “I’m glad you know who you are. And you _have_ to tell me more about this Jeff character. I need to know more about the boy who has stolen my little brother’s heart.”

Greg smiled back at her. Boy, was he glad that he had a sister like Sara.

That night he kept his light on in his room. He had sobered up a bit, thankfully before his parents arrived home at the ungodly hour of one in the morning. But now he was reading. He had gone to the local library and borrowed _The Shining._ Yes, that was the book that Jeff told him to read. His fingers were restless on the back of the book. So far he was enjoying it. Jeff had good taste in books and it just made Greg fall for him more.

Soon though, his mind wasn’t really focused on the book. Instead, he was thinking about Jeff. Of course, he was thinking about Jeff. He was pretty obsessed with him. Damn, crushing wasn’t fun. His heart was starting to hurt. He’d never actually had a proper crush before and now that he was properly acknowledging his feelings for Jeff it was just sinking in. When he realised he wasn’t actually reading anymore he decided it was time to go to bed. He switched the light off and placed the book gently on his bedside table, then his glasses on top of it.

Jesus, he really couldn’t get Jeff off his mind. It wasn’t Greg’s fault that Jeff was so charming. That day that Jeff talked to him in homeroom Jeff had actually sat next to him in maths. It frustrated Greg at the time because he was already blushing from their interaction in homeroom. But Jeff didn’t push him to talk, he sat there and occasionally made a comment to Greg about something. It was so simple but Greg was swooning for the rest of the day. That was why he felt confident enough to tell Ryan that he was gay. He was so sure of it then just because Jeff had taken a few minutes to talk to him.

Why did Jeff talk to him anyway? Did he want to become friends?

Hopefully, because if that happened then Greg would get to talk to him _every day._

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!
> 
> I don't know how regular my updates will be, so I think I'll just do it in my own time. I edit every chapter I write like a thousand times to make sure it's perfect and that takes up some time.


	3. I Knew You Were Gay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan reassures Greg that he is gay. Jeff invites him over to his house.

Colin reached over the table and handed Greg half a sandwich, without a word to Greg. Greg looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Colin shrugged and continued in his conversation. Greg also shrugged and started eating the sandwich. He didn’t know what everyone else was talking about. He had zoned out a while ago. There were a few things on his mind, especially since he’d just realised who he was a few days ago.

Though, Greg thought it would be more dramatic than this. Everyone he’d told was still acting normal, where he thought they might be fussing over finding him a boyfriend or telling him to go to hell. But neither Ryan nor Sara had been rude or pushy with him. His life was also normal. Nothing had changed except that he knew he was gay now. Still, it was only a few days ago. What if this was just a thing that changed quickly? Like a phase? He didn’t know anything about this. Everything was new to him.

Suddenly, the bell rang and Greg slowly refocused again, turning to head to see everyone leaving. Right as he was about to stand up, however, Ryan grabbed onto his arm. Ryan hadn’t left his seat.

“Actually Greg, can I talk to you for a second?” Ryan waved the others off and Greg looked at him. Once the others were completely out of earshot Ryan slid a little closer.

Greg leaned on the table. “What is it, Ryan? Is something bothering you?”

“A little. You’re my best friend and I know everything about you.”

“And I know everything about you,” Greg responded. “Your point?”

Ryan pressed, “I know when you have a problem. You’re doing that thing where you are spacing out.”

“But I space out a lot, there’s nothing wrong with that.” Greg defended. Was he being that obvious? He didn’t think anyone could tell that he was still thinking about himself and the whole gay thing. Plus, he already told Ryan. It’s not like he had any other secrets. Maybe. He didn’t know.

Ryan smiled reassuringly. “You can tell me anything, you know that?”

Greg groaned a little and sat up. “Okay, I guess I do have something. You know how I’m… gay, right?”

“Yeah, you only told me a few days ago. It’s still fresh on my mind. Why, are you having a gay crisis?”

Greg looked at Ryan. “Yeah, actually I am. If you could even call it that.”

“They suck,” Ryan said nonchalantly. “Are you having doubts?”

“How can I be sure that I’m gay, Ry? It’s not like anyone flirts with me, man or woman. How am I supposed to know for sure? Like, it could be a phase. Maybe it’s just a senior thing.”

Ryan shrugged. “You usually see some cute people around the school.”

“Yeah, Jeff.” Greg rolled his eyes. “But thinking one guy is attractive doesn’t make me completely gay, does it? I could just be unsure. What if I never see a cute guy again? What if when I get over Jeff I’m interested in a girl?”

Ryan leaned on his arm and raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never ever heard you talk about a girl in the way you spoke about Jeff the other day. It’s extremely unlikely that you’ll like a girl like you like Jeff. You’re definitely gay, Greg. And yeah, that could change in the future. But now, you’re gay. Just trust me on this.”

Greg sighed. “Ugh, fine. I trust you.”

If Ryan said he was definitely gay, then it was probably true. Ryan knew a lot more about this than he did since he’d come out to Greg a year ago. He was already comfortable with himself and he knew what it was like to go through the stage of questioning and doubts, just like Greg was now. 

“He can’t be the only attractive guy you see at this school though. I know—“ Ryan stopped Greg before he could protest. “—that Jeff is _definitely_ the one who you’re lusting over, but just tell me. Is there anyone else who you think is cute?”

“I guess?” Greg finally answered, after pausing to think for a moment or two. “There are a few people but I don’t know their names. But Jeff… He keeps, I don’t know, looking at me and talking to me.”

Ryan mulled it over for a bit. “Maybe he’s interested in you?”

“Possibly?” Greg threw his hands up. “I don’t know about any of this stuff.”

“Well, if I had a crush on someone then I would usually try and talk to them. Jeff is doing what I would do in his situation. There is a big possibility that he like likes you,” Ryan pointed out. “Or he could only want to be friends. But it’s most likely the former.”

“Yeah, well I like him too.” Greg blurted out. “Maybe I don’t mind that he might like me!”

Ryan smirked. “And you were having doubts about being gay. Honestly.”

Greg scowled again. “It's probably wishful thinking. I don't want to assume anything. Anyway, we’re gonna miss class.”

“So what? There’s no point in going, we’re gonna be ten minutes late.” Ryan challenged, glancing at his watch. “The teacher will give us detention if we show up now. No one wants that.”

Ryan convinced Greg to stay outside for the next lesson. They sat and talked, the topic of Greg’s problem far away now, a slight breeze brushing through their hair and throughout the garden. After a while, Ryan excused himself to go to the bathroom. This left Greg alone, so Greg climbed onto the table and lay back, closing his eyes. Did he really have a crush on Jeff Davis? He thought about it last night, but he didn’t really come to a conclusion because he got… distracted. Ryan said Jeff was either trying to be his friend or get in his pants, essentially. Even though Ryan said it was the pants thing Greg was still mostly convinced it was just a friend thing. If it was just a friend thing and Greg made a move he could ruin everything. That would be awful.

When Ryan came back he suggested they go to their next class since they had already skipped one of them. Greg was getting bored anyway so he agreed, forcing himself up from the table and jumping off. Art was next for him so he said goodbye to Ryan and moved to go upstairs. Just as he got to the stairwell the bell rang and students started appearing around him. The sound of shoes squeaking on the stairs mixed with the loud voices of the students, irritating Greg just a little. There was carpet everywhere else at least, so the sound was softer. The door to the art studio was already open so Greg wandered in, scanning the room.

Jeff was resting his chin on his arms, staring off out the window. For the past few days, Jeff had asked if he could sit next to Greg in both their art and math class. It was Greg’s turn now. He walked up to Jeff and tapped his shoulder. He jumped out of his trance and looked up at Greg.

“Can I sit here?” Greg grinned. Jeff smiled back and nodded. Greg dropped his bag off his shoulder and sat down on the stool provided. 

“How’s your day been?” asked Jeff. 

Greg shrugged. “It’s been alright so far. I skipped the last lesson.”

“Why?” Jeff laughed a little. “And why did you come back to class?”

“I was getting bored. Also, Ryan wanted to talk to me, which took a while so we ended up skipping.” 

“You know, I haven’t actually met Ryan yet.”

“Really?” Greg raised an eyebrow. “Do you have any classes with him?”

Jeff cocked his head to the side. “Maybe. I don’t know.”

“He’s the tall one.”

“I know of him.” Jeff sighed, a grin coming onto his face. “I think he’s in my science class. I’ve never talked to him and he’s never talked to me.”

At that moment, the teacher walked in and shut the door behind her, stopping Greg from responding. Ms Taylor clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention and most people shut up. She was probably the only teacher who was able to get everyone’s attention that quickly since she was a lot of student’s favourite. Admittedly a few boys (and probably a girl or two) had a crush on her since she was a bit younger than the other teachers. Greg definitely never had one. Sometimes someone in his class would try and explain what it was about her but Greg never understood. Well, there was a reason for that now.

“Alright children, listen up.” She announced, positioning her hands on her hips. “I know we’ve had a week of pretty much free time where you got to draw in your books or paint whatever, but now it’s time to get workin’.”

She started explaining what their major project was, writing on the board so they understood exactly what to do. In all honesty, Greg wasn’t the greatest at art. At least, he didn’t think he was. But it was fun to create things. He always had a lot on his mind and last year when he joined art he realised that it was a great way to express that. This time their major work was to be based on a recent event. It could be a big or small event, as long as it was important to the creator. Greg had no clue what to do for it.

When she let the class do their thing Greg turned a shocked face to Jeff. “What the fuck am I going to make?”

Jeff laughed. “I don’t know. I’m a bit confused as well.”

“A recent event? My life isn’t exciting,” he opened his book and flipped through the empty pages. Even though they’d had a week of pretty much free lessons, he wasn’t using that time to draw or paint. For the first few days before Jeff started talking to him, he made small talk with a girl across from him. Now, she had moved away to a different table with a couple of cooler people. Greg didn’t mind, it was just him and Jeff at the table now. 

“Surely something interesting must’ve happened in the past few weeks,” Jeff raised his eyebrow. “What was something you did during summer?”

Greg leaned on his hand and thought about it. There was something interesting that had happened in the past week. He had realised he was gay. But he didn’t want to tell Jeff that. There was no way of knowing what his views on that kind of thing were without asking directly, and Greg wasn’t about to do that. 

“I didn’t really do anything in the holidays,” Greg answered Jeff’s question. “I mostly sat and read for most of it, and I didn’t really go outside..”

“Well, that’s interesting.” Jeff pointed out.

“Yes, but you’re a book nerd. Of course that’s gonna be interesting to you. To the teacher though?” Greg quipped. Jeff rolled his eyes with a small smile on his face.

“Ms Taylor doesn’t really care what it’s about as long as you put a lot of effort into it.”

Greg looked at him. “How do you know that?”

“Uh… she’s my favourite teacher. There is a legit reason, I don’t have a crush on her like a lot of guys in here.” Jeff looked at his own book, avoiding Greg’s eyes. “No, actually she was there for me since a few years ago when something… you know, _bad happened._ ”

“Oh,” Greg’s eyebrows lifted. “What happened?”

“I’d rather not say,” Jeff laughed nervously. “But I know her. She won’t mind as long as it’s something good and you put a decent amount of thought and effort into the final product.”

Greg blinked a few times. “So I can do pretty much anything and pass it off as a recent event in my life?”

“Yep.” 

A smile crept onto Greg’s face. “Cool.”

He closed his empty book and rested his arms on it. He felt himself begin to zone out as he tried to think of what he was going to do for his project. Even though it was more of a private thing, he had a _really_ big urge to base it on his realisation that he was gay. It seemed like the best option since he hadn’t done anything great in the past few weeks other than that. He could always make something up, but he felt like he wanted to make it honest. In the past he hadn’t really tried with his art projects, just choosing something random and doing that. Afterwards, he’d pretend he had a deeper meaning to it from the beginning, but that was usually a lie. Although sometimes it was easier to think of the deeper meaning afterwards because it was hidden somewhere in his subconscious while he was making the art. 

There was a sudden tap on his shoulder and he looked up. Ms Taylor was smiling down at him. She pulled a stool from a few feet away and sat down. 

“How are you boys doing? You thought of anything?” She asked both Jeff and Greg. They shared a look.

“I have something,” Jeff said a little uncertainly after a few seconds of silence. She didn’t say anything, a sign that she wanted Jeff to keep talking. “Mine’s gonna be about someone I knew. I’m still working on the idea though.”

“That’s wonderful, Jeff.” Ms Taylor smiled sweetly at him. “Greg?”

Greg jumped a little. “Oh, I don’t really have anything yet.”

“Surely you must have something.”

“That’s what he said,” Greg pointed at Jeff and looked at him in wonder. Jeff shrugged and smiled a little. 

Ms Taylor let out a small laugh and she got up. “Well, make sure you have something by the next lesson. I want you all to start working.”

Then she left them alone. Jeff rested his elbows on the table, propping his chin up. “If you want I can help you think of something. Or you could easily just make something up.”

“Please,” Greg sighed, letting his head fall down. 

He heard Jeff chuckle and he felt Jeff pat his back reassuringly. It shouldn’t have, but he felt his back tingling where Jeff pat him. The feeling of Jeff’s warm hand wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. He felt a shiver run down his spine and his cheeks warm up a little when Jeff lifted his hand off. God, he hoped Jeff didn’t notice that. Greg was mostly fine when he was around Jeff now, ever since he had realised he liked him as more than a friend, but if he kept doing that Greg would most likely melt into a puddle. They had also only been talking for a few days so things were still a little awkward in the normal friend way of getting to know someone. Still, they pretty much talked every day in homeroom and in every class they had together. 

When the lesson ended Greg waved goodbye to Jeff and headed off to lunch. He exhaled slowly as he walked down the corridor away from him. At least he knew they were friends. Jeff had offered to help him with his art project and to do that he had to go to Jeff’s house. Which was happening this afternoon? Greg was going to go to Jeff’s house. This afternoon. Yikes.

He decided to not tell Ryan or Colin at lunch. 

Later that afternoon, Greg was waiting for Jeff outside of the school. He had no idea how Jeff got to school: did he walk or did he drive? Soon enough he would find out. But there was _no_ reason for him to be nervous. He and Jeff were friends, this is what friends did. Whenever he went to Ryan or Colin’s house he was perfectly fine. Although, he didn’t have a crush on Ryan or Colin, so this was different in a way. When Greg had first met Ryan he wasn’t invited over within the first week. Then again, Ryan and Jeff weren’t the same people. Jeff did things differently to Ryan, that was a normal human thing. 

After a few more minutes Jeff strolled up to him with his hands in his pockets. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Greg responded. It was a little awkward. Greg could feel this tension around them. Maybe it was just him being an awkward human. He hoped it was just him.

“Shall we go?” Jeff suggested, then started walking towards the parking lot. Greg followed him to what he assumed was his car. 

“Is that your car?” Greg asked when Jeff stopped walking. 

Jeff nodded. “Yes. Well, technically it’s my brother’s because he bought it, but he doesn’t go anywhere. I use it more than him.”

“Then technically it’s yours if you use it more.” Greg pointed out, getting into the passenger side. Jeff did the same, climbing into the driver’s seat.

“If I brought that up to him,” Jeff grinned. “I’d probably be dead. I don’t know why he lets me use it.”

“Maybe he’s hoping you crash it. Then he’d have a reason to kill you if you didn’t die in the crash.”

“Thanks, Greg.”

“Anytime.”

Jeff shook his head, laughing a little. The car pulled out of its parking space and Jeff began driving them to his house, which was in a similar direction to Greg’s. On the way, Greg tried to keep the conversation going so there wouldn’t be an awkward silence in the car. 

“Do you have any other siblings besides your brother?” he questioned. 

“No. It’s just Bill.” Jeff responded. “Do you have a brother?”

“No, I have a sister though.” he quirked his eyebrows. “She’s a bitch.”

Jeff laughed. “What’s her name?”

“Sara. Without the ‘h’ on the end.” Greg squinted. “She’s constantly switching boyfriends.”

“Why would someone do that?” Jeff raised his eyebrow. “It seems like a waste of time and emotions to me.”

“That’s what I say!” Greg complained. “However, while she's a bitch, she’s still one of my closest friends.”

Jeff snorted. “Geez, I wish I could say the same for Bill and me.”

Greg smiled and lay back a little in his seat, crossing his ankle over his knee. “You guys fight?”

“Oh boy,” Jeff exhaled. “We definitely fight.”

“What about?”

Jeff let his head fall back for a few seconds. “ _Everything_. He usually picks the fights or tries to get on my nerves because he’s older and expects to win every time. Which isn’t true, by the way.”

“Have you ever knocked him out?” Greg asked, his smile still stuck on his face.

Jeff side-glanced at Greg, an amused look on his face. “I haven’t knocked him out. I don’t usually try and hurt him, I just defend myself and he manages to hurt himself in the process. You’d think he would’ve learned his lesson by now.”

When Greg didn’t respond, Jeff kept talking. “Honestly, knowing how to defend yourself comes in handy around here. Our school is so bigoted and violent. I only came here halfway through freshman year after… something at my old school.”

Greg squinted at Jeff. “It is pretty violent.”

“The worst of them all is the team, have you noticed that?” he said quietly. “Still, it’s nothing compared to what I came from, I can say that.”

“Oh, I’ve definitely noticed it.” Greg scoffed, sitting up again. “I’m one of their favourite targets, Jeff.”

Jeff looked at Greg. “You are?”

“Ever since middle school, my dude.”

“Wow,” Jeff looked back at the road. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, they’re just a bunch of hunky guys with fragile masculinities.”

Jeff laughed, suddenly turning into a driveway. The car pulled to a halt and they both got out. Jeff began leading them up the slightly uphill driveway and to his front porch. Then he opened the door, letting Greg in first and following behind him. Greg scanned the room. It looked nice. It was a bit small but it wasn’t cramped. All the curtains were closed so the room was darker. The couches weren’t leather, instead, they were this red kind of corduroy. The carpet was light and the walls a light brown. As Greg looked around more he noticed that there were a lot of framed paintings, and in the middle of the furthest wall was a stone fireplace. On the top of the fireplace were a set of framed photos that Greg couldn’t see from where he was standing. 

“Oh, can you take your shoes off? Dad’s kinda fussy about that,” Jeff bit his lip as he kicked his own shoes off. Greg did the same and placed them neatly next to Jeff’s.

“Is your brother home?” Greg asked, looking around again as if he would see Bill magically appear.

Jeff shook his head. “I don’t think so. He’s probably at his girlfriend’s. Do you wanna start working now or do you want some food?” 

Immediately Greg nodded his head when Jeff offered food, making Jeff laugh a little. God his laugh was cute. They both dropped their bags there in the hallway and Jeff showed Greg to the kitchen. It was relatively small; on one wall were all the essentials, i.e the fridge, oven, stove and cupboard space. Then there was the counter, which protruded from the wall with about two feet space between it and the aforementioned essentials. Greg’s kitchen was a bit bigger, but it didn’t matter. If a kitchen had food it was a good kitchen.

When they had both grabbed some snacks they sat down in the living room on one of the two couches. Jeff propped his feet up on the coffee table and Greg folded his legs on the couch. Now that he was closer he could see the pictures better. On the far left was one of what Greg assumed was Jeff’s brother, then one of four people: two adults and two young boys. The last one, on the far right, was presumably Jeff. 

“Welcome to my home,” Jeff said dramatically.

“It’s a nice place,” Greg gestured around him, his mouth full of food. “It’s definitely a lot cleaner than mine.”

“Dad and I are ‘neat freaks’.” Jeff held up quotation marks with his fingers and said it in a weird voice. “However, I prefer saying I’m organised.”

“Organised sounds a lot better than a neat freak, in my opinion.”

Jeff tapped the side of his head then pointed at Greg. “See? ‘Organised’ doesn’t paint you as a weirdo.”

“I’m definitely not organised,” Greg scoffed. “I have loose papers _everywhere_.”

“When you say everywhere—“

“It’s condensed into one area. But if I pointed a fan in that area then whoosh!” Greg made a large gesture with his hands, accidentally spilling some food onto Jeff. Jeff quickly picked it up and ate it, stealing Greg’s food from him. Not that Greg would’ve eaten it after it had fallen onto Jeff’s lap anyway. 

“Thanks,” he grinned. 

Greg narrowed his eyes but smiled at him. Then, after a few moments of silence, a question popped into his head. “Hey, uh, Jeff?”

“Yeah, uh, Greg?”

“Would you consider us as friends?”

Jeff gave him a look of ‘really?’ “Of course we’re friends. I wouldn’t invite an acquaintance over to my house.”

“Okay, good.” Greg nodded. “Because I um, I actually did have something in mind for my art project.”

“You do?” Jeff’s lips curled upwards. “Tell me.”

Greg glanced at him. “I gotta tell you something first, though.”

“Go for it.”

“Jeff…” Greg breathed in. “I’m gay. But I only realised like a week ago—“

“Dude, same.”

Greg immediately stopped talking and looked at Jeff. Did he hear him correctly? He blinked a few times, looking into Jeff’s eyes. “What?”

“You didn’t know?” Jeff raised an eyebrow. “ _I_ knew _you_ were gay.”

Greg’s eyes widened. “You did?”

“Greg, come on.” Jeff gestured to Greg. “Look at you. You have the gay vibe hanging around you as if you disturbed a nest of wasps, and the gay vibe was the wasps.”

Greg looked down at himself. _I guess I do look a little gay…_

“Anyway, that’s not important.” Jeff brushed the subject off. “What was your idea for your art project?”

With a grin, Greg looked back up at Jeff and began telling him what his idea was. There was a weird tension before, but it seemed to have gone away now. Jeff kindly drove Greg home after Greg had insisted that he had stayed for long enough. He almost didn’t want to leave. It was silly. They were friends, just friends. But Jeff was gay and so was he, and Jeff had said he knew Greg was gay. Was he that obvious? He didn’t think he was that obvious. The way someone dressed couldn’t be a dead giveaway. Although, he had presumed Jeff was gay by the way he had dressed. Most of that was wishful thinking. His wish came true in this instance.

When he walked in the door there was a chorus of ‘where have you been?’ from both Sara and his mom. Easily he replied and said he was at a friend’s house. His dad didn’t care enough to have asked, so Greg decidedly ignored him for the rest of the evening and during dinner. It was easy considering that his dad was also ignoring him. For whatever reason, Greg didn’t really know. Maybe he’d done something wrong. It was hard to tell when it came to his dad. 

The next morning Greg felt a bit… excited to go to school. Which never happened. Ever. This was new but he didn’t care. He knew why he was excited. He was happy to see Jeff, who had agreed that they were friends. Now Greg had a reason to talk to him about anything he wanted. If they weren’t friends, Greg had this weird social barrier he’d set up for himself where he couldn’t overshare. Maybe he would ask Jeff to sit with his friends today. If Jeff was his friend then he had to be friends with Greg’s other friends. It made sense. Greg was thinking about all of this while getting ready, and when he looked in the mirror he was slightly shocked to see that he actually looked good. He wasn’t even thinking about what he was doing. His hair also looked great. Today was going to be a good day, he could feel it.

When Greg got to school he set about finding Ryan. After almost ten minutes he finally found Ryan on the top floor.

“Hey Ry,” Greg poked his side as he stopped next to his friend.

“Hey Greg,” said Ryan sadly.

“What’s wrong?”

Ryan looked at Greg. “I’m getting a cold.”

“And you’re sad about that?” Greg raised his eyebrow. “You get to take a few days off school!”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to do that.”

“Who are you and what have you done to Ryan?” Greg said in shock. “You happily skipped a lesson yesterday.”

“Only because I didn’t want detention,” Ryan pointed out. “I don’t like missing out on whole days anyway. I don’t want to miss too much.”

“We get it, you’re smart and a teacher’s pet.”

Ryan side-eyed Greg. “You’re smart as well, Greg.”

His only response was a snort. He most likely wasn’t getting good grades in English or maths. For some reason, he was struggling a lot more in English this year than he was last year. It wasn’t far enough into the term to know what his grades were, but they were probably on the wrong end of the bell curve. After last year he started to really not care about his grades that badly. He probably should care more this year since he was in his senior year and he did want to graduate. 

In homeroom Jeff and Greg whispered to each other as usual while Mr Anderson marked the attendance. By now Mr Anderson didn’t care if kids talked throughout homeroom. At the beginning of his teaching career at the school, he would berate the students and tell them to be quiet but now he was as laidback as ever. Greg had had him as his homeroom teacher for the entire four years. Right as the bell rang, Greg ended up asking if Jeff would like to sit with him at recess.

“Sure,” was his response. “Where do you guys sit?”

“You know where that retaining wall is? With the arch?” Both of them stood up and began walking out of the room.

Jeff nodded.

“If you go there and look around you’ll see a table under a tree. We usually sit there.” Greg explained. “It’s out the back of the school _away_ from the football field.”

“Great. I’ll see you then, Greg.” Jeff smiled and walked off to his own class. Greg waved and turned the opposite direction. Today he had English first, with Ryan and Wayne. A lot of the time they had a substitute teacher, and today was one of those days. Greg actually liked his English teacher, Ms Lawrence. She was upfront about his grades. But this substitute was _such_ a drag. His name was Kevin James. He had a cool name, but he was _not_ a cool person. From looking at him Greg could tell he thought pickles are better raw.

Wayne tapped Greg on the shoulder and Greg turned around. “Yes?”

“I need your advice, man.”

“Sure thing dude.” Greg made sure the sub wasn’t listening. “What is it?”

“There’s this girl, and she looks _fine_ , right? She’s really smart as well.” Wayne sighed. “And I was thinking of asking her out. You got any ideas?”

Suddenly, Ryan also turned in his chair. “You aren’t up to date on anything, are you?”

“What do you mean?” Wayne raised his eyebrow. Greg hung his head.

“I don’t know anything about girls, Wayne.”

“And he’s gay, so he doubly doesn’t know anything about girls.” Ryan whispered, his voice hoarse. Greg squinted angrily at him. _Anyone could be listening…_

Wayne’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shape. “So neither of you can help me?”

“You could just straight up ask her?” Greg suggested, keeping his voice low. “Admit that you think she’s pretty _fine_ , as you would say. You’re a charismatic guy, I don’t know why anyone would say no to you.”

Wayne laughed a little. “I guess I could just do that.”

“Hey, why don’t you take your own advice?” Ryan smirked. “Grow some balls and ask Jeff out.”

Greg’s face warmed up and he shook his head. “No, I can’t.”

“Why? Is he not gay?”

“No, he is, but—“

“—so why can’t you?” Wayne frowned, interrupting him. Greg covered his face with his hands to hide both his blush and the eye roll he just made. 

“I’m too awkward, that’s why,” he complained in a muffled voice. “And there’s no way he would say yes.”

Ryan rolled his eyes, and even though Greg couldn’t see him he could feel it. “What do you mean? You _just_ said he’s also gay.”

“We just started talking a few days ago!” Greg defended. “I can’t ask him out so quickly.”

“Sure you can.”

“I’m not going to,” Greg stated. “End of story. At least, for a while. We’re only friends.”

“Or unless he asks you out first.”

Greg glared at Ryan but he didn’t say anything because the teacher had just gotten up and was stalking around the room. All three of them watched as he walked by and when he was gone, Greg made a face of disgust.

“Does he not know what deodorant is?”

Both Wayne and Ryan laughed, but Ryan ended up coughing. They continued to talk for the rest of the lesson, not doing their work. They had a substitute, he couldn’t really force them to do anything. It did also explain why Greg was getting bad grades. Maybe he should do his work more often. Greg’s next class was science, which he knew he was doing just fine in. Colin was in his class, thankfully, so he was definitely a big help. Their teacher, Mr Vranch, was also not there.

“Is it like the annual teacher’s day off or something?” Greg snorted, whispering to Colin. 

Colin giggled. “Maybe.”

This substitute was a lot stricter than the one he had for English. She whacked a ruler on the desk any time she heard someone make a noise, so talking with Colin was out of the question. It felt like the lesson had gone for hours, but when Greg looked at the clock on the wall it had only been ten minutes. His mind began to wander from what he was supposed to be doing and he started thinking about anything and everything.

Usually, his mind would drift to a show he’d seen on television or a song he’d heard. This time it was, unsurprisingly, Jeff. He couldn’t seem to get Jeff off his mind for the past week, and he was starting to get really frustrated with himself. He’d never had a crush before. Is this what they were all like? Painful? Annoying? He couldn’t say anything to Jeff obviously, they were barely friends and _Jeff was his crush_. What if he scared Jeff off by being so forward all of a sudden? That would probably hurt even more than being just his friend. Jeff was incredibly nice, and he was sweet to Greg even though they were just friends, which just confused Greg even more. Sure, he’s allowed to be sweet, but not so sweet that it was torturous. Unless… maybe he was flirting? 

_That’s just wishful thinking, you idiot._ Greg thought to himself. But Greg didn’t know what flirting was since he’d never flirted and he was never flirted with. So it could very easily be flirting. _He did invite you to his house…_

 _Why is this so difficult! Ugh!_ he shouted angrily in his head. On the outside he wasn’t displaying much emotion, he was just staring in front of him while the teacher talked. But this crush was annoying. If Greg didn’t have a crush on Jeff would he still have tried to be friends? The answer was most likely no. But maybe he should try and ask Jeff out. Ryan had suggested it, and Wayne agreed. Plus, Jeff was probably flirting. Why would he talk to Greg anyway? Jeff said he knew Greg was gay. If Jeff knew he was gay then he could be interested. He just didn’t want anything bad to happen between the two of them. 

The bell startled him out of his thoughts. Time went a lot faster when you _weren’t_ focussing, it seemed. 

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I wrote this I picked a random name for the substitute teacher. But 'Kevin James' sounded familiar so I looked it up and whaddya know, Kevin James is the actor for Paul Blart: Mall Cop.


	4. It'd Be Breaking Some Serious Laws Of Biology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No summary for you! There'd be spoilers.

What if he was just faking it? That he was only doing this for attention? Maybe he just wanted to be friends with Jeff and nothing more. So what if he was a little hot? Ryan was attractive and they were just friends. Greg didn’t want to be anything more with Ryan than friends. It could easily be the same. 

Then why was it that every time he saw Jeff his heart fluttered just a little bit more than it usually did? How come Greg felt there was a little more to the smile that Jeff gave him this morning? Trying to convince himself he just wanted to be friends was never going to work. It wouldn’t work on him, on Jeff, not on Ryan or Colin or Wayne. If he only wanted to be friends why was Jeff _always_ on his mind when his thoughts strayed from his work? Yes, he was a little hot. More than hot. Hella-fucking-mega-sexy. His smile was cute. His hair was always perfect. Those eyes, his sparkling, brown eyes. They always seemed so distant when he wasn’t talking to Greg but when he looked at Greg… there was something different. The little laugh he does when Greg cracks a joke, how he shakes his head a little or throws it back, looking to the ceiling. He was sweet. Funny. Charming. Gorgeous. Oh, Greg couldn’t forget his body. That was one of the best parts. Jeff was tall and slim and he had a near-perfect posture. His hands were so delicate and warm all the time. When he pat Greg’s back yesterday it was almost the equivalent of getting a hug. 

_Okay. There’s no way you just want to be friends, you idiot._

Greg was so caught up in his own thoughts that he forgot that Jeff was going to sit with him at recess. The only way he ended up remembering was because he managed to run into him before either of them got anywhere near the table. Literally run into him. He crashed into the taller boy and Colin laughed at him, pausing from saying whatever he was saying. Greg wasn’t listening.

“Oh, hello Greg,” Jeff smiled down at him then he looked at Colin. “You’re Colin, right?”

“That’s me,” Colin nodded his head once. “You’re in my history class.”

“That I am,” Jeff grinned. Meanwhile, Greg was trying to ignore his slightly warm cheeks. He looked up at Jeff and he couldn’t hold back a smile. Yep, he definitely had a crush. He’d already seen Jeff today but it was like he hadn’t seen him properly until now. Greg noticed his hair was styled today when usually it was left messy—like bed hair. He looked good. Really good.

They all continued walking out of the school and into the yard, dispersing from the rest of the students.

“Hey Jeffrey—” Greg started but stopped himself. _Why the fuck did I say Jeffrey? What’s wrong with me?_

Jeff cocked his head to the side. “Jeffrey?”

“It slipped out,” Greg admitted, laughing nervously. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t worry, I like it.” Jeff shook his head. “Gregory,” he added.

Greg smiled up at him, another small, sheepish laugh erupting from his throat. “No one ever calls me Gregory.”

“Well, I do now.”

Greg caught his eye. There it was again. The look. It was definitely different from how he looked at Colin before. He thought it was his own mind playing tricks on him at first, but now he wasn’t so sure of that. He looked away and pointed ahead of him since they were near the table now. Colin side-eyed him and mumbled something that Greg couldn’t hear. It sounded a bit like ‘birthing’, but he knew Colin wouldn’t just say ‘birthing’ out of the blue. What rhymes with birthing? Birthing, surfing, flirting. Wait, flirting?

Colin ran ahead of them and sat down next to Ryan before Greg could get a chance to ask him what he had said. He leaned down and snickered something at Ryan, who laughed along with him. Greg rolled his eyes.

“That’s where we sit. There are Ryan, Wayne and Brad.” he said, pointing to the others respectively.

“Brad is on the team,” Jeff raised an eyebrow, remembering what Greg had said about being one of their main targets.

“He and Chip are the only good ones on the team,” Greg reassured him. “They’re actually my friends.”

Jeff nodded. “Good.”

Greg gave him a strange look but decided to ignore it. He sat down next to Wayne and forcibly pushed him more to the side so Jeff could sit down. He scooted along, not really fazed by Greg’s pushy behaviour. However, he did shoot a knowing glance at Greg.

“Everyone, this is Jeff. He’s a new friend of mine.” Greg introduced. Both Ryan and Colin gave him knowing looks, just like Wayne, but Brad waved innocently. Brad still didn’t know about Greg’s crush, but everyone else did. Greg hadn’t even told Colin, it must’ve been Ryan. He scowled at them all.

“Hello.” Jeff greeted, a smile on his face. 

“Hi Jeff,” they all said in unison. Greg couldn’t stop himself from grinning and he reached into his bag to get out his food. He pulled out a bag of peanuts and dropped them onto the table. He couldn’t help but realise how close Jeff was sitting to him. They weren’t quite shoulder to shoulder but Greg could very easily feel the warmth of his body coming off him. It was honestly making him a little nervous. But also… happy. 

“So Jeff,” Ryan started, his mouth full of food. “Are you gay?”

Greg was _so_ glad he didn’t have any food or water in his mouth, otherwise, he would’ve spat it out the moment that Ryan had said that. Greg blushed and held his face in his hands. “Ryan, shut up.”

“Yes, I am,” Jeff answered. Greg peeked out of his hands to see Jeff looking a little nervous. His cheeks were slightly red and he was biting his lip. “Why… why are you asking?”

Ryan shrugged. “No reason.”

Greg looked over at Ryan and caught his smirk. “Seriously?”

“What? I’m allowed to ask.”

Greg didn’t bother answering and he used all his force to get rid of his blush before he grabbed the packet of peanuts and opened them, grabbing a few and chucking them into his mouth.

“Yo, can I get a few?” Wayne tapped his side and held out his hand. Greg reluctantly poured some out. 

“Hey Greg, can I also get some?” Brad smiled hopefully.

“Why does everyone want peanuts all of a sudden?” Greg complained, giving Brad some anyway. “Colin? Ryan? Jeff?”

He presented his bag to all three of them. Colin and Ryan declined but Jeff reached into the bag and slowly grabbed some out, giving Greg a small smile. “Thanks.”

_Oh my god, he’s so cute._ Greg melted a little and he had to force himself to look away from Jeff. Unfortunately, he caught Colin’s eye instead and Colin wiggled his eyebrow. Greg scowled at him and abandoned his peanuts, reaching into his bag for some other form of nutrition. 

“You like reading, right?” Ryan asked suddenly, leaning forwards towards Jeff.

Jeff seemed a little startled but he glanced towards Greg before answering. “Yes, I love reading. How’d you know?”

_Fuck!_

“Lucky guess.” Ryan shrugged.

Thankfully for the rest of recess Ryan didn’t say anything else to Jeff that might’ve made it any more awkward than it was. Greg was probably the only one feeling awkward, but that’s because he’s the one with his crush sitting right next to him. Anything he did was going to be awkward. Every movement he made he was _extremely_ aware of, even if it was just eating a peanut. The conversation flowed normally like any other conversation and Jeff was showing no signs of being uncomfortable. Good. That’s good. Maybe Jeff can keep sitting with Greg during break time. 

The bell rang and everyone got up. Greg scrunched up his now empty peanut packet and dashed over to the bin a few feet away. Jeff did the same with his rubbish and he smiled sincerely at Greg. This time Greg couldn’t stop his inner demon from coming out and he batted his eyelashes and looked Jeff up and down with a similar smile on his face. Jeff bit his lip— _bit his lip_ —and there was a faint blush to his face. God, why did he have to be so fucking attractive? 

“See you later, Gregory.” Jeff nodded and he stalked off, his hands in his pockets. Greg touched a hand to his cheek. He wasn’t even surprised that it was warm at this point. It was constantly on fire because of Jeff. He then glanced to his hand. It was shaking a little. Did that normally happen? He hadn’t noticed it before. Just then, Colin and Ryan came up behind him and Ryan patted his shoulder.

“You coming or are you just gonna stand next to the trash all day?” urged Ryan. 

Greg leaned his head to Colin. “What did you say before? Like before we sat down. What did you say?”

“I said ‘flirting’,” Colin answered easily. 

“Huh.”

Ryan walked around in front of him. “Okay. I think someone has the hots for you, Greg.”

“You think so?” he said a bit unsurely.

“Hmm, let’s see.” Ryan shook out his hand and began numbering things off. “He called you Gregory. He ‘liked’ it when you called him Jeffrey—“

“You told him?” Greg interrupted, turning to Colin, who only nodded.

“—and he was sitting close to you. And just now, you batted your fucking eyelashes and he bit his lip. That my friend is flirting.” Greg and Colin began walking, Ryan joining next to Greg. 

“You know, you are _very_ observant,” Greg pointed out. “It’s almost creepy.”

“It’s a gift.”

Colin nudged his side. “But now you know he’s flirting with you. Are you gonna go for it?”

Greg felt butterflies in his stomach. If there was a world record for the number of butterflies in your stomach he probably just broke it. They stepped through the doors of the school, suddenly surrounded by heaps of other kids who were slowly making their way to class. Colin patted his back and turned the opposite way to Ryan and Greg, who continued walking to their history class.

He was a little relieved that it was the weekend tomorrow. The weekend meant he had time to think about what the fuck he was going to do. Was he going to ask Jeff out? The thought terrified him. He’d never done anything like that before. Also, if he was going to, when would he do it? There’s not really any privacy around the school and he didn’t have Jeff’s home number. 

_I could do it in art, I have it next._ he thought to himself. _None of my other friends are in that class._

But there were other students in the room, still no privacy. No one else sat at their table though. Maybe he just had to grow some balls and just do it. But that thought was _terrifying._ How would he even go about saying it? In a perfect world where there was no one around and it was the right moment, what words would he have come out of his mouth? There was never going to be the right moment. He should probably ask Sara. She would know what to do. Was she even at home this weekend? There were some weekends when she went away with her friends to different cities. Greg hoped to _God_ that she would be home. 

Unfortunately, Greg wasn’t able to wait until he got home to ask Sara about it. Because Jeff did it first, and when Greg got home he melted in the doorway and he couldn’t stop smiling. There were butterflies again but they were good butterflies this time. It was like a song was constantly playing in his stomach and the butterflies were raving.

What happened was Greg showed up to the lesson before Jeff. He sat and waited, playing with his fingers. When Jeff showed up he waved, his face lighting up when he caught sight of Greg. They sat and talked like they usually did in art, the thought of asking Jeff out far from Greg’s mind now. He was so caught up with talking to him that he didn’t get any work done either. When the end of the lesson came, Jeff shut his book abruptly with a nervous smile stuck on his face.

_“Okay. Okay, okay. Okay.” He kept saying. Greg raised an eyebrow and smirked at him._

_“Okay?”_

_"Yes, okay.” Jeff ran his hand through his hair—his gorgeous hair— and he bit his lip again. “Here goes nothing, I guess.”_

_Greg looked at him expectantly, standing up and shoving his own book into his bag._

_“There’s this, this coffee shop downtown.” Jeff started and he stood up as well, leaning a little closer to Greg. “Do you wanna maybe come with me sometime?”_

_Greg’s heart almost stopped. “Wh-what?”_

_“You know… like a date.”_

Thinking about it made Greg’s heart soar. For one, he didn’t have to ask which made it easier, somehow. And two, he was going on a date with Jeff. _With Jeff._ They hadn’t discussed any details but Jeff had written down his number and tucked it into Greg’s pocket with a relieved look on his face. _Now_ he had Jeff’s number. He wasn’t sure when to call him but he knew he had to do it soon, but not too soon. 

He let out an excited giggle and he bounded to Sara’s room, shouting her name. He burst the door open without knocking and she was sitting on her bed, painting her nails. 

“What?” she growled. “Kinda busy, butt munch.”

“Sara, this is way more important than nails.” he moved and sat next to her on the bed on his knees. She furrowed her brow and looked at him. “I have a date.”

Her eyes widened. “WHAT?”

“Yes!” Greg slapped her arm excitedly. “With Jeff!”

Immediately she shoved the nail brush back into the pot and she began waving her hands around dramatically to make them dry quicker. Greg reached into his jacket and pulled out Jeff’s phone number and showed it to her. She began blowing on her nails. 

“Did you ask or did he ask?” she finally said.

“He asked me, in art earlier today.” Greg answered. “We’re going for coffee.”

“Aww!” She cooed. “When?”

“I don’t know, I have to call and find out.”

“Usually you discuss that when you do the asking.”

“The lesson was over and we had to get to our next class!” Greg complained. “But I got his number out of it, it’s okay.”

Sara stopped blowing on her nails and she lightly touched one to see if it was dry. It was mostly dry, so she jumped and wrapped her arms around Greg’s neck. “I’m so proud! My little brother, going on his first ever date!”

Greg hugged her back, a stupid grin stuck on his face. He was going on a date with Jeff-fucking-Davis. He hadn’t told Ryan, Colin, anybody except Sara. Even though he was giggling like a school girl, he knew he would be nervous on the day. But for now, he was going to be a giggly little bitch.

He was going on a date, after all.

When Greg woke up the next morning he figured he’d waited long enough to call Jeff. After he’d eaten breakfast he grabbed the phone and left to his room again so his parents wouldn’t hear his conversation. The door clicked closed and he sat down at his desk. The slip of paper that Jeff had given him was sitting neatly in the middle of the table. There was obviously the number on it, but underneath Jeff had written his name and a small heart he’d quickly scribbled. Looking at it made Greg smile. He picked it up and punched in the number. It rang three times before he heard the other line click.

“Hello?” It wasn’t Jeff’s voice. It was probably his brother.

“Hi, my name’s Greg—“

“—JEFF!” he heard the voice call out to the background. There was a five-second pause before he heard Jeff’s voice.

“Hey Greg,” Greg could hear the smile in his voice. “Or should I say ‘Gregory’?"

Greg laughed. “Whatever you prefer, Jeffrey.”

Jeff laughed as well. “I’m gonna stick with Greg for now. But it’s definitely going to differ in the future.”

“Of course it will,” Greg responded.

“So how are you? I know it’s only around nine-thirty in the morning but still.” 

“I’m good, great actually. I slept really well considering how joyous I was last night.” 

Jeff let out a small laugh. “That excited, huh?”

“Dude you don’t even know.” Greg pressed. “All day yesterday I was thinking of asking you out but you did it first.”

“You were?” 

Greg twirled the phone cord around his fingers. “Oh yeah. It was so stressful.”

“I can imagine.”

“Actually, I only started thinking about it when I realised you were flirting with me,” he admitted. “Before I was just crying internally.”

Jeff snorted. “How you didn’t know I was flirting with you concerns me beyond all measures.”

Greg rolled his eyes even though Jeff couldn’t see him. “Excuse me for never being flirted with, or never even flirting with anyone.”

“I thought you knew because you were definitely flirting back.” Jeff told him. “But anyway, the tension is gone and we’re going on a date. Eventually.”

“Yeah, we still need to think of when.” Greg propped his feet up on his desk and leaned back in the chair. 

“We could do today.”

If Greg was drinking something he would’ve spat it out. “R-really? Well, I guess there’s no point in wasting time.”

“Not really,” Jeff chuckled. “I can come and pick you up around ten-thirty if you want.”

“You need my address first, don’t forget that, genius.” Greg looked around him. He had his address written down somewhere, he just had to find it.

Jeff hummed. “That I do. What is it?”

For a few seconds, Greg said nothing while he rifled through the pages he had on his desk. “Hey Jeff, you know what I said the other day about not being organised?”

“Yeah, you said all the paper was condensed in one area. Why, did you write your address down—“

“—yeah, and I can’t find it.” Greg finished for him, a nervous laugh escaping. “I might have to ask Sara. I’ll be back in a minute. Wait right there.”

“Will do, captain.”

Greg put down the phone and rushed out of his room to Sara’s and knocked on her door impatiently. After some polite nagging, she gave him their address and he ran back to the phone so he could tell Jeff. They continued talking until it became ten and they both realised they should get ready for the incoming date ahead of them. Jeff hung up and Greg returned the phone back to the living room. 

First, he decided that he should shower. That was one of the most obvious choices. In the shower, he thought about what he was going to wear. They were going for coffee, he definitely couldn’t be fancy. Not that he had anything fancy anyway. But he had to be more than lame-casual. His mind was still on clothes when he hopped out of the shower, that is until he caught his reflection.

“Oh my god my hair,” he said monotonously. With the towel hung around his hips he tried his best to style it so it looked somewhat normal, flattening it out and twirling some of it down the front of his forehead. It wasn’t cooperating still. Today was going to be one of those days. Hopefully, Jeff didn’t care about Greg’s hair that much because it wasn’t looking the best today. He groaned and left the bathroom. Maybe his outfit would distract from his hair. He still hadn’t chosen anything yet but he still had—he looked at his clock—fifteen minutes. That was plenty of time to pick something to wear, right?

It was _barely_ enough time. Right as he was looping his belt into his jeans he heard a car pull up into the driveway. That had to be Jeff. Greg looked back at the mirror again. It was alright, he guessed. He had a white collared shirt on underneath a dark blue sweater that his grandma had knitted for him. Then he was just wearing darker jeans and boots. It wasn’t lazy and it wasn’t too formal. It didn’t really distract from the monstrosity that was his hair but at this point, he didn’t care. He dashed to the front door before anyone else could with his wallet in hand, barely saying bye to anyone. A grin appeared on Greg’s face. Jeff was leaning against his car with his arms folded. 

“Hey Jeff,” he called out, stepping down the few steps that lead to the front door. “Just in time.”

“I was just about to walk up to the door but you came running out,” Jeff let out a small laugh. He looked Greg up and down and smiled. “You look _really_ good.”

Greg laughed a little nervously. “Ha… thanks. You look ravishing. As always.” 

Jeff posed sassily, puckering his lips up a little. He was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and converse, paired with a really nice looking dark denim jacket. It was so simple but it was so Jeff. “I know.”

“Let’s go before my dad comes out and tries to talk football with us,” Greg offered after a few seconds. He made his way around to the passenger side and hopped in. Surprisingly he was managing to hide his nerves, not that there were many anyway. It didn’t feel awkward at all around Jeff like he had suspected. Jeff shut his own door behind him and started the car, pulled out and drove off. 

“So where is this coffee place?”

“Downtown. It’s called _Roasted Coffeehouse._ I’ve been there a few times before.” he explained. “They also do tea and hot chocolate, so it’s not just a coffeehouse.”

Greg nodded. “Groovy.”

Jeff smiled, glancing to him for a second. “Indeed.”

Greg fiddled with his thumbs. He was consciously making himself sit up straight, and since Jeff was slouching slightly they were the same height now. His foot was consistently bouncing up and down. Okay. Maybe he was a little more nervous than he thought he was. Occasionally, when Greg would be feeling especially anxious, he wouldn’t stop fidgeting. Now was clearly one of those times. Thankfully Jeff didn’t seem to notice and he kept on talking.

“—you know, this mornin’ I actually woke up at like, seven. It was horrendous considering that it’s the weekend. I still didn’t get out of bed until I heard Bill call for me when you called. If I sounded groggy that’s why, by the way.” Jeff chuckled. “I was reading.”

“Oh wow, I’m so surprised, you were _reading?_ ” Greg teased. “I didn’t think you sounded groggy.”

“Maybe that’s because my voice is naturally husky and sexy like that,” Jeff said jokingly, fluttering his eyelashes at Greg. 

Greg cleared his throat. “You wish it was naturally husky.” 

“But it’s sexy though,” Jeff side-eyed Greg. “You didn’t deny that part.”

Greg felt his face getting warm and he felt Jeff’s eyes on his face. “Sure. We’ll go with that.”

Even though Greg wasn’t looking at him he could feel Jeff’s smirk from beside him. His face was pretty warm and his ears were definitely pink—that’s what Jeff was smirking at. Thankfully though, Jeff slowed the car down and pulled into a parking lot adjacent from a bunch of storefronts. Greg looked over and saw one that had the name ‘ _Roasted Coffeehouse_ ’ painted on the front in cream-coloured lowercase letters atop a brown background. Outside there were wooden tables with brown umbrellas above them, and similarly coloured chairs that had the same cream colour cushions on them. There was a fence around the front of the store where the tables were and small, green succulents in cute pots were lined on the top. Greg couldn’t see the inside of the coffeehouse from where he was but he was sure it was just as pretty.

Both of them got out of the car and Jeff lead them across the road. If Greg wasn’t scared of who was watching him he would’ve grabbed Jeff’s hand. He’d had a massive urge to and only just managed to stop himself. Being gay in public was definitely taboo and there’d be people who would harass them. So Greg stuck to staring at Jeff even while crossing the road. There were a few people already drinking coffee sitting outside but there was a free table. They passed by it and stepped inside.

“What do you want?” Jeff reached into his back pocket and grabbed his wallet. “I’m paying by the way. You can’t argue with me.”

Greg rolled his eyes. “I can pay for my own drink.”

“Yes, but I asked you out. I technically have to pay.” Jeff said quietly so no one else could hear. “Just let me pay.”

Greg sucked in a breath through his nose. “Fine.”

Jeff grinned and gestured to the menu board above the counter. “So what do you want?”

Greg squinted at it even though he was wearing his glasses. He wasn’t much of a coffee drinker. Sometimes he would drink it, but it wasn’t usually his first choice. Tea maybe, or hot chocolate. He sucked his lips in and continued studying the board. Jeff was standing next to him doing the exact same thing.

“You made a choice?” he asked as sincerely as possible. “I’ll probably just have a cappuccino.”

“Um… I’ll have a latte,” Greg said the first thing that came to his mind. “Regular size, please.”

“Can do, Gregory,” Jeff said sweetly. “You can get that table outside if you want.”

Greg couldn’t stop his smile and he looked at the floor for a second before looking back up at Jeff. “Can do, Jeffrey.”

Jeff giggled and pushed him away lightly so he would get out and get the table. Greg stumbled away and sat outside. There was a light breeze blowing and it was already a nice day. There were quite a few people around considering that it was a Saturday and obviously people would be out.

_I wonder how many other people are on dates right now,_ Greg wondered. He glanced around and tried to spot some. There was a couple of people walking past the coffee shop and they were holding hands. Greg leaned on his hand and watched them walk by. Then his eyes moved to the park across the street. There were a young man and a woman playing with a toddler. Perhaps it wasn’t a date for them, but it was cute. A smile appeared on Greg’s face when the man tumbled over, pretending to be hurt when the child hit him lightly. The toddler clapped his hands excitedly and the mom cheered, laughing at the dad. It was so wholesome that Greg almost burst into tears. Fortunately, he didn’t, because Jeff sat down across from him about five seconds later.

“Coffee is on the way,” he opened his jacket and tucked his wallet away. “What are you thinkin’ about?”

“I was just watching the family across the road,” Greg admitted. “That child is so adorable.”

Jeff turned his head and looked at them as well, a smile also appearing on his face. “He is. I don’t know if I want kids though.”

“Me neither.” Greg shook his head. “I’d be fine with babysitting Sara’s inevitable child though. I just don’t want my own. And also, gay.”

“Gay.” Jeff nodded definitively. “It’d be breaking some serious laws of biology.”

Both of them thought about it for a second and collectively made a face at the thought of a man being pregnant. _Not to be judgemental, but ew._

“Changing the topic drastically,” Jeff adjusted the way he was sitting. “Do you wanna go to the park later? After the coffee?”

“To watch the child?” Greg raised an eyebrow, thrown. 

Jeff rolled his eyes but smiled at Greg. “No, just to hang out. There are a few nooks that I know of where we won’t be disturbed by any children running around.” 

“Oh,” Greg almost burst out laughing at his. “Of course, I would love to. Especially if children won’t be attacking me.”

Jeff laughed a little. “Cool. We’ll do that.”

“How long are we gonna be out?” Greg suddenly asked, the thought popping into his mind. In all honesty, he’d rather be out all day and never go back home but that wasn’t an option.

“As long as you want,” Jeff shrugged. “You can leave anytime. Preferably not soon though,” he added a little sheepishly.

Greg smiled sincerely. “I’m not leaving anytime soon. It might be hard to get rid of me, in fact.”

“I’m okay with that,” Jeff laughed a little, his eyes sparkling. Greg’s heart almost jumped out of his chest because of how damn cute Jeff was being today. It was only their first date but Greg was already feeling head over heels for him. 

Their conversation never stopped at any point. Even if it did, it was only for a few seconds while they gathered their thoughts. The coffee came and they drank it distractedly until it was all gone. It was a date, but it didn’t feel like one. It felt like they were just hanging out. Of course, it was still on Greg’s mind that it was a date and he was on a date with _Jeff Davis_ , but all his nerves were gone. After they realised their coffee was gone—it took about ten minutes—they got up and crossed the street to the park.

The grass barely made any noise as they walked upon it. It was soft from the sprinklers that regularly watered it and it was so green that it put a greenhouse to shame. Greg felt incredibly sad for a few moments because he so badly wanted to hold Jeff’s hand but it wasn’t a good idea. Instead, he lightly bumped his side and made eye contact, hopefully getting the same message across. While they were looking into each other’s eyes though, they both glanced at the other’s lips.

They passed by the family that was playing earlier. They were enjoying some food on a picnic blanket. There was a cute, woven picnic basket sitting next to the mom. Greg couldn’t see what was inside but it was most likely healthy picnic food. If Greg went on a picnic he’d bring so many snacks. The dad looked up and caught Greg’s eye, a small smile and a nod that said ‘hey’. Jeff waved and he waved back. Greg and Jeff exchanged looks and almost couldn’t hold in their laughter.

“We’re so creepy,” Greg whispered as they walked away from them.

“Hella,” Jeff agreed, still giggling a little. “Follow me.”

Greg felt that his body went first but his mind had to catch up for a moment. Jeff grabbed his hand and tugged him along towards what Greg assumed was one of the nooks he’d mentioned. Their hands fit so well together and Greg couldn’t tear his eyes away. He didn’t even pay attention to where Jeff was leading him. When they stopped Jeff didn’t let go of Greg’s hand and Greg didn’t let go of his. Greg was still looking at it though.

“Here we are,” Jeff says, a little puffed from walking so fast. “No one will bother us unless they followed us.”

Greg hummed, his gaze still fixed on their hands. Jeff suddenly moved their hands up towards Jeff’s face. Now Greg was looking at Jeff’s face. “Oh, did you say something?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t matter.” 

Just as suddenly as before, Jeff twirled Greg around, their hands still interlocked. Greg was slightly embarrassed and he brought his hand up to his mouth and covered it. Still holding his hand, Jeff moved to sit down at the base of a nearby tree. This ‘nook’ wasn’t an enclosed area. It was on the edge of the park and there were more than a few trees hiding it from the rest of the area. No one would come back here, they would rather sit in the sun where it was warm. Back here the shade was covering the entire area, which was covered with both grass and twigs from the trees above them. Actually, now that Greg thought about it, this park was directly next to the forest at the edge of downtown. The forest also ran near the school but it would be about a twenty-minute walk if they wanted to go that way. They were sitting right near where the thick grove started.

Jeff leaned against the tree, extending his long legs and Greg sat down cross-legged next to him, pulling their entwined hands into his lap. “This is much better, honestly.”

“No judgemental eyes watching us.” Jeff pointed out. 

“All day I’ve been wanting to hold your hand, by the way.” 

Jeff turned his head at Greg. “Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t know who was watching us, Jeff. I don’t want to be harassed.” Greg complained. “But now we’re holding hands, so it’s okay.”

“That’s a valid reason.” he said softly. “We can be gay now.”

Greg laughed. “We can.”

Looking to his side he gazed at Jeff’s body. While he did he slowly moved so he was leaning on him rather than sitting next to him. He settled his head between Jeff’s head and shoulder, listening to his own heartbeat. It was surprisingly normal. Well, normal compared to what it had been for the past few days. Jeff’s thumb swiped over the back of Greg’s hand, rubbing small circles onto it.

“Uh, Jeff?”

“Uh, Greg?” he mimicked. 

“Do you like hugs?”

Jeff turned his head slightly and Greg could feel his eyes on him. “Yeah. Why?”

“No reason. Just that I like them too.” Greg smiled and quickly flipped his legs so they were across Jeff’s, smiling at him. “And for future reference.”

Jeff lay his other hand on Greg’s thigh. “Do you like kissing?”

He could feel the warmth of Jeff’s hand through his jeans. There was a gentle pressure on it and Greg almost choked at the question. “Uh…”

“Don’t worry,” he gently rubbed his hand up and down Greg’s thigh. 

“I’ve never kissed anyone, so I wouldn’t know. I like the idea of it.” he eventually said. “Is it fun?”

Jeff licked his lips and looked at Greg. “Do you… you wanna find out?”

Greg lifted his head and turned to Jeff. “Now?”

“Sure, why not?”

Suddenly, Jeff reached up and grabbed the sides of Greg’s head, pulling him so their lips met halfway. For a moment neither of them moved until Greg refocused and kissed back, letting his eyes flutter closed. It was only for a second or two, and Jeff then pulled away with a smirk on his lips. Greg felt drunk and his face started to turn red. He grabbed Jeff’s hands from his face and held them. _What the fuck?_

After a few seconds, Greg spoke, ignoring the fact his cheeks felt like they were on fire. “Oh god… do it again.”

Jeff grinned and kissed him again. This time their kiss was expected and Greg sort of knew what he was doing. If he was doing it wrong Jeff wasn’t saying anything. Greg’s hands suddenly had their own mind, holding Jeff’s cheeks and pulling them closer together. Jeff kept his hands on Greg’s hips, also pulling them closer together. Greg didn’t even know how it was even possible. There was no space between them at all.

When they pulled apart again Greg smiled drunkenly at Jeff. Having his eyes closed for that long made him a little tired. It was weird. He just made out with a boy. A boy that he really liked. This was good.

“Was that fun?” Jeff licked his lips again, breaking Greg out of his trance. 

“Oh my god, it definitely was,” Greg also licked his lips. “And not to be creepy or anything, but you taste… good.”

“Like… coffee?”

“That’s the one.”

They both laughed and hugged each other tightly. Greg nuzzled his face and smiled into Jeff’s shoulder, and he could feel Jeff grinning against the side of his head. This was officially the best first date ever.

  



	5. When In Doubt, Make Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg goes out with Ryan and finds out something interesting about him. Jeff wants to take their relationship to another level, and Greg stays the night at his house. Romance ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 'end scene' of the chapter is Greg and Jeff doing/mentioning both sexual and not-so-sexual things. They are both only two weeks out of being eighteen, but I figured I should warn you anyway. Even if it's only two weeks, it's still underage. Thanks.

Greg was peacefully sitting at the kitchen table eating his breakfast. Thank god for weekends. He didn’t have to do anything if he didn’t want to, and he usually did nothing. There was the occasional outing with Ryan and Colin, but other than that he slept. Or watched movies. Either one. Yesterday he did go on that date with Jeff and yeah, they made out, but he had no plans today.

Greg’s dad sauntered into the room. He looked grumpy, but then again that was just his face. Greg promptly ignored him. He never really got along with his dad. It was because he wasn’t into ‘manly’ things and that instantly meant that he was a pansy and not good enough. Hell, even Sara was more of a man than Greg according to his dad. 

Suddenly, his dad sneezed. Why do dads have to sneeze so loudly? Greg jumped about a foot in the air and dropped his spoon into his cereal. On impulse, he reacted, “Why?” 

“What do you mean ‘why’?” he snarled. “It was a sneeze.”

“I mean why are you so loud? At least say ‘I have to sneeze’ before sneezing so I have some kind of warning.”

“Sorry _your majesty_.” he glared sarcastically at Greg. “Didn’t know I had to bow before your feet and do what you say.”

“Shut up,” Greg rolled his eyes. Greg was a bit scared of him if he was honest. He was just using sarcasm to hide his fear. Which is what he also did with Drew when Drew was being a dick. It had become his defence mechanism early on, in late elementary school when people were _just_ starting to judge others. Before then no one really cared who was who and instead they just played. But once they started growing and changing they started to judge and unfortunately Greg was often on the other side of the judgement. There was no reason for them to judge him, other than the fact he was slightly more effeminate than the other boys. Back then it made no sense. Why couldn’t everyone just let people be who they wanted to be? It was hard for Greg to understand why people decided to be rude and judgemental until he started being treated badly, forcing him to evolve into a sarcastic bastard.

It was awful, but some of that judgement came from adults that he knew. Most of all his own father. The fragile masculinity and frustration that Greg wasn’t a football boy sometimes led to harsh nicknames. He didn’t use them much anymore after Greg thankfully shot him down during one intense argument. But back when Greg was a sophomore in high school he was still using them. Names such as ‘princess’, ‘fairy’, and Greg’s favourite, ‘bitch’. Sometimes he said ‘bitch’ with an accidental, almost loving tone and it almost always made Greg laugh. If his dad knew, _if_ being the massive keyword, Greg would never hear the end of it. He would be harassed constantly, bullied by his own family. Greg’s dad was never an accepting man. He was just the worst. 

That made living with him so terrible. But since he was the authoritative figure in the house, who pretty much always got his way, Greg could rarely argue with him. Every so often he could get a few licks, but that was if he didn’t care about anything anymore. Usually, Greg would get grounded and possibly clipped on the back of the head a few times. The little things he did annoyed Greg. For example, he would leave his dirty plate in the sink for his mom to clean up, stains and all. The least he could do was rinse it. He also wouldn’t wash his hands after using the bathroom. Talk about disgusting.

“Gregory. Come here.”

Greg rolled his eyes but got up anyway, carrying his food to the living room where his dad was. “Yes, father?”

“You’ve had an attitude lately,” he said sternly. Greg could already feel the hairs on his back standing up. “What is it about?”

“I have a lot of schoolwork.” Greg breathed in carefully. “And I’m stressed.”

“That’s no excuse. It’s rude to talk back to your father that way, do you understand?” He stressed. “Stand up straight, first of all!”

Greg pushed his shoulders back and set his jaw. “Better?”

“I either want you out of the house all day today or studying.” his eyes were fiery, which did not sit well in Greg’s stomach. “Do I make myself clear? I don’t want to see you. Take your pick.”

Greg nodded and left without responding to him. Suddenly, he didn’t feel like eating so he tipped out the rest of the milk and then dumped the leftover cereal in the trash, making sure to make it sound as passive-aggressive as possible. Then he immediately grabbed the phone and dialled Ryan’s number. Greg would much rather be out of the house all day. Maybe he might be away all night as well. Who knows? It’s not as his dad would care if he was gone.

“Yep?” Ryan’s voice appeared on the other line. It’s almost as if he knew it was Greg calling, which was a bit freaky.

“Ry, can you come and save me? My dad’s being a fucking dick.” Greg made sure he was looking directly at the back of his dad’s head, glaring daggers into his skull. Of course, he didn’t let him hear the insult. He whispered it into the receiver. 

“Maybe…” Ryan teased. Greg knew Ryan would say yes but he continued pleading anyway, to make it more dramatic.

“He’s picking on me for not standing up straight. Ryan, please I just, I can’t take it anymore. Can you like… take me out or something? Please, I’m begging you.” Greg whined. “Then I’m probably going to sleep at your house, and you can take me to school tomorrow. Sorry, you don’t have a say in it.”

Ryan was silent for a second. “Be ready in ten. I’ll save you, oh damsel in distress.”

“Thank you,” Greg grinned and hung up the phone, then turned to his dad. “I’m going out. You happy? I made a choice.”

“Is Ryan your boyfriend?” his dad joked with a harsh undertone to it. 

Greg shook his head and groaned. “No. I’m not gay, dad.” 

“Whatever you say, princess.”

Greg breathed in over dramatically and left to his room so he could be ready in ten like Ryan asked. In the hallway, he paused at the liquor cabinet. Carefully he listened for his father, just in case he came his way. When there was no noise he opened the cupboard and grabbed two vodka cruisers. They were probably Sara’s, but he was going to get in trouble, either way, no matter who caught him. If he was even caught. He finished the journey to his room and stashed them in his bag.

Ten minutes later, Ryan’s car pulled up and he honked the horn. Before anyone else in the house could react, Greg had jumped out his window and ran to the front. He hopped over the side door and Ryan drove off as quickly as he came. Greg threw the bag over into the back seat. It had his pyjamas and school things for tomorrow. The vodkas were gonna be fine, they had clothes to protect them.

“Fuck man, thanks.”

“Dude, I’m actually so glad you called me. By the way, you made it sound like a life or death situation, which I found hilarious. Imagine you dying. You’d be so overdramatic about it.” Ryan laughed, his eyes sparkling. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about pretty boy, so this is perfect. Did you end up asking him out?”

Greg punched Ryan in the arm. “You’re bullying me, and that is no way to treat your date. Also, his name is _Jeff._ ”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Who said you were my date?”

Greg slumped over in the seat, ignoring Ryan’s question.

“Answer me. Is Jeff your boyfriend now?” Ryan half teased, half actually asked. They stopped for a few seconds to give way to someone else and Ryan rested his hands on the steering wheel, looking at Greg.

Greg flushed. “I mean… I guess so. I really don’t know…”

“So wait, you’ve been on a date?” Ryan continued. 

Greg looked Ryan up and down. “I mean… yeah.”

“Did you go yesterday?” Ryan asked, still confused. “That’s kinda quick.”

“You and Colin pretty much told me to go for it!” Greg complained. “He asked me out and gave me his number, so I called him yesterday and he suggested that we go yesterday.”

“Where’d you go?” Ryan asked.

Greg shrugged, hiding his face from Ryan. “We went for coffee. And then to the park. Also, we aren’t boyfriends yet. We’ve been on _one_ date.”

“What did you do at the park?” Ryan kept pressing as if he knew something Greg didn’t.

Greg ran his hands down his face, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. “We kinda… made out? A lot?”

“Hot.”

“Ryan!”

“And now, I guess the question is: did he kiss you or did you kiss him?”

“What?” Greg raised an eyebrow.

“Who kissed who first?”

“He kissed me?”

“He _so_ wants to fuck you.”

“You don’t know that, I don’t know that. No one knows that. He kissed me because I said I’d never kissed anyone and he asked if I wanted to find out.” Greg defended. 

“Dude. The way he looks at you…” Ryan shook his head. 

“How does he look at me?”

Ryan thought about it. “I don’t know. But from what I can see, I’d say it’s a mix between bedroom eyes and cute puppy dog eyes.”

“Really? He looks at me like that?”

“Well, you look at him like that so I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“I do?” Greg asked, his heart thumping. There was a beat before Greg’s mouth curled into a smile. “You know… I’m not the only one with someone that I’m in love with. There is someone that I think you look at like that.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” Ryan furrowed his brow. Greg sucked his lips in and tried to stop himself from smiling.

“You sure you don’t know?”

Ryan wasn’t looking at him and he shook his head quickly. “Nope. What? Who?”

Greg waited a second before speaking again. “Would you suck Colin’s dick? I mean, the way you look at him, dude.”

“Greg! That is so uncalled for…”

“Hey, I’m just asking. You teased me about Jeff.”

Ryan lowered his voice as they pulled up to a stop light. They were getting near the city now. “In all honesty, I would. Okay? I would. But I… I won’t, and that’s what matters. I’m not _into_ him or anything, just bros helping bros if that situation comes up… you know? Not that it ever will.”

It almost sounded as if Ryan was trying to tell himself that. For some reason, it didn’t feel right to Greg. He let it slide for now, though. “Right…”

“Would you suck Jeff’s dick?” said Ryan teasingly, trying to get back at Greg a little, and obviously he hadn’t dropped the whole ‘he wants to fuck you’ thing. When Greg didn’t answer his question straight away, Ryan’s brain jumped to conclusions. “Wait? _Have you?_ ”

Greg looked away from Ryan, avoiding the question because he was embarrassed that Ryan would even think that he did. Ryan seemed to take his silence as a ‘yes’ when in reality, it was a ‘no’. They weren’t even together yet.

“Oh my god! When? Did you become sexually active? How long ago was it—” Ryan edged closer and invaded Greg’s personal space. They were still at the stop light, unfortunately for Greg.

“—oh my god, shut up!“ Greg pushed Ryan away, trying his hardest to will the oncoming blush away. Greg rolled his eyes. “We didn’t, by the way.”

“Oh.”

“We just made out… a lot…”

Ryan looked slightly unimpressed. “How close were you to sucking his dick?”

“Ryan!”

“Hey, just answer this one and I’ll stop asking.” Ryan held up his hands in defence. Then, the light turned green.

Greg groaned. “Not close at all, now will you drop it? We’re nowhere near doing anything sexual. I just had my first kiss, remember?”

“Alright. I’m sorry.” Ryan nodded. “You’re right. You just lost your kiss virginity. Loser.”

Greg whacked Ryan on the arm and Ryan burst out laughing.

If Ryan wanted more information, he wasn’t going to get it. Greg wasn’t about to go sharing all the details of his and Jeff’s date, that was personal information. Greg would happily describe them getting coffee, but the aftermath? In the park where they kissed for the first time and made out for fucking _ages_? No, that was their business. 

Greg rested his chin on his hand and waited a few moments, just enjoying the feeling of wind blowing through his hair. The city flashed past him as they got deeper into it, the sun getting lost behind the buildings. He was so glad he chose to go out rather than stay home and study. He rarely studied anyway. 

Eventually, when Ryan pulled to a stop they both hopped out and watched as the cover closed over the car. Then they walked to _The Red Rose_ where they got some coffee. After they both finished they walked to the pier, where there was currently a carnival. Greg hadn’t been yet so he was glad Ryan was taking him. Apparently, Ryan had already gone with Colin, just another reason for Greg to tease Ryan that they were ‘so dating’. From what Ryan had said in the car it sounded like he had a crush. At least, to Greg it did. It was as if he was trying to tell himself that he wouldn’t give Colin a blowjob, much like how Greg tried telling himself he didn’t like Jeff. Look how that turned out.

Now they were on the Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel wasn’t apart of the carnival, it was always on the pier. That’s why the carnival was on the pier though, for the Ferris wheel. They were alone in the carriage. It swayed lightly in the wind, then a bit too aggressively for Greg’s liking whenever the wheel moved. He constantly had to grab onto Ryan for support even though there was no way he would fall out. It just freaked him out a bit.

“Greg,” Ryan began, grabbing Greg’s hand from his shoulder. “Uh, do you actually think I like Colin?”

Greg looked off into the distance. In his other hand was one of the vodkas he’d snuck and he brought it up to his lips. The other was for Ryan but Ryan refused (for now) because he had to drive. “Ryan, why are you asking me that?”

“I don’t know… Sorry.” Ryan furrowed his brow and looked away. “I just—“

“—Ryan, I can’t decide for you, unlike you decided for me.” he interrupted. “I don’t know if you like Colin. If you do, great. If you don’t, great. I’m not gonna stop teasing you about it either way.”

Ryan let go of Greg’s hand and sighed. “I guess I do like him a little bit.”

“Great!”

Pause.

“Wait, what? You do? No joke?”

Ryan looked around as if someone was gonna eavesdrop into their carriage. “I mean, with the number of times we’ve kissed because of you, it’s kinda… done something to me.”

“So you think you have a crush?” Greg said slowly, drinking a little more of vodka. He twisted the cap back on and stuffed it in his bag again. “Stop trying to steal my thunder, man. I just went on my first date.”

Ryan laughed a little. “Sorry, but I… I really think I do. He’s… cute.”

“I know,” Greg raised an eyebrow. “It’s _Colin_.”

“Hey, you got your own boyfriend.” Ryan narrowed his eyebrows playfully. “Back off.”

“Dude, Jeff’s way hotter. I’m saying Colin is cute.”

Ryan let out a snort and he folded his arms. Greg laughed it off and patted his arm, abruptly ended the conversation when their carriage stopped at the bottom and they were forced to get out. Ryan’s confession didn’t really surprise him. After all, they were pretty close and Greg could see that the way Ryan looked at Colin was as if a hummingbird saw the perfect flower. They’d also kissed way too many times for it to be merely friendly anymore. Hell, it could’ve been more than friendly after their first kiss and that was pretty much in freshman year. 

Greg looked at the giant next to him. Sometimes Ryan was a real dork.

 

For once, Greg got a head start on getting to their seat since the teacher let his class out a little early. Jeff wasn’t in art, annoyingly, so Greg was alone for the entire hour. The girls that used to sit at his table moved as soon as Jeff joined him. Jeff wasn’t at all concerned about that but it made Greg feel a little uneasy. As he neared their table he noticed someone was sitting in it, or sleeping in it. Greg squinted as he got closer, unable to recognise the person. Only when he was a few metres away did he recognise that spiky black hair. Greg sat opposite Jeff and coughed. Jeff sat up immediately.

“Oh, hi Greg,” he said sleepily. Greg smiled warmly at him. He looked cute when he was sleepy.

“Hello Jeffrey.” he greeted. “You having fun there? You skipped class.”

“I didn’t sleep last night, and I ended up getting to school late. But just now I was havin' a good dream,” Jeff closed his eyes and leaned on his hand, a yawn escaping. His fingers tapped his cheek rhythmically. 

Greg studied his face. “What about?”

“You.”

Greg suddenly felt as if his tongue took up his entire mouth. A dream about him? He must be lying, surely. Greg blinked. Greg had had dreams—one, one dream—about Jeff though. So it was plausible.

Jeff opened his eyes and smiled at Greg, his eyes only half open. “What? Cat got your tongue?”

Greg stuck his tongue out at Jeff. Jeff laughed and Greg smiled at him. Just being in Jeff’s presence made Greg feel a lot better than he already was. It would’ve been better if he was in class. They weren’t even officially together, which made it stranger. They’d already made out multiple times and they’d been on a date, so they were pretty much together, but they hadn’t talked about it. Yesterday (Tuesday) Jeff invited Greg over and they made out for a couple of hours on the couch instead of doing homework as they had originally planned.

“Are you being serious, though?” asked Greg. 

“I can’t stop thinking about you and our date the other day,” Jeff admitted, his cheeks heating up a little. “I’m honestly thinking we could be, y’know, something more. And I mean, come on. We have amazing chemistry and made out on our first date, which was one of the best, if not the best, first dates I’ve been on.”

Greg pretended to be disinterested for a few seconds before he couldn’t take it anymore. Seeing Jeff’s eyes slowly go sad was heartbreaking so he changed his expression to a happier one.

“Don’t worry. I can’t stop thinking about you either, Jeffrey.” he jumped up from his seat and ran to sit next to Jeff, pulling him in for a kiss immediately. It was a short kiss but it was sweet.

“You smell like strawberries.” Greg sniffed his neck.

“Strawberries, eh? That might be my perfume.” Jeff licked his lips. “You taste like cinnamon.”

“The _only_ reason I taste like that is because I had a cinnamon bun for breakfast,” Greg looked up at Jeff with hooded eyes. Jeff hung his arm around Greg’s shoulder. “You wear perfume?”

“I’m wearing it for you. I found it in my parents’ room.” 

Greg felt butterflies in his stomach. “That is so fucking cute.”

“You’re so fucking cute. That’s why I like you so damn much.” Jeff kissed Greg’s cheek. “So… how are we going to do this?”

Greg turned to the boy sitting next to him and voiced his thoughts. “I don’t know… technically you’re not my boyfriend yet.”

“You wanna be my boyfriend?” Jeff smirked. Jeff sneaked the hand that wasn’t around Greg’s shoulder to his hand and laced their fingers together. Greg blanked out for a second. The fact that Jeff wanted to hold his hand most of the time was adorable. He refocused himself.

“Are you asking me or teasing me?” Greg avoided the question deliberately just to annoy Jeff.

Jeff let out a sigh but kept his smirk plastered on his face. “What if I said I was teasing you?”

“Then maybe I’d just have to say no.” Greg shrugged. Jeff scoffed and went to move his arm from Greg’s shoulder when Greg burst out into giggles and kissed Jeff’s cheek. “I’m just kidding! Yes, I’ll be your boyfriend.”

Jeff smiled and cupped Greg’s cheek with his hand, kissing him softly. 

“Your hands are warm.” 

Just as Greg said that the bell for recess rang and kids started to walk out into the schoolyard. Greg looked over and watched as they did, and smiled to himself when he saw Ryan walking with Colin. He must’ve met him on the way back from the bathroom. Wayne, Brad and Chip joined them a bit later, running up to them when they left the hallway. Jeff tensed a little behind Greg, and Greg shifted a little in his seat. But Greg gave Jeff a kiss on the cheek before greeting everyone else, just for good luck. Brad raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything as he sat down next to Greg.

“Hey Greg,” Ryan said nonchalantly. Colin waved at both Greg and Jeff before sitting down.

“How are you?” Wayne asked Jeff as he sat down. Greg couldn’t help but notice that Chip was eyeing Jeff, and Jeff didn’t seem to notice. 

“Pretty good if I’m being honest,” Jeff shrugged the arm that was still on Greg’s shoulder but didn’t move it. 

Wayne’s eyes widened slightly and he turned to Greg. “Are you two…?”

Greg nodded a bit shyly and reached into his bag to grab a packet of peanuts. He chewed on them loudly to hide his embarrassment and Jeff burst into giggles. Wayne rolled his eyes and finally, Chip tore his gaze off Jeff, which Greg was happy about. Jeff held out his hand and Greg gave him some peanuts.

Jeff chucked them all in his mouth at once, which Greg scoffed at. “What?”

“You don’t savour them,” Greg laughed. He made a show of putting one peanut in his mouth and he chewed it slowly before swallowing it. The others collectively raised their eyebrows.

Jeff leaned close to Greg’s ear. “The only nuts that I will savour are _yours._ ”

Greg’s face burned and he covered his mouth with his free hand. Jeff kissed Greg’s cheek, sat up straight and grinned, his arm slipping off Greg’s shoulder and down to link their arms. Wayne looked at both of them, confused, before shrugging and looking away.

 

On Tuesday when Greg was at Jeff’s house, he invited Greg over to stay at his house on Friday night. Now it was Friday and, unsurprisingly, the two boys were sitting in Jeff’s room. Jeff had already changed out of his school clothes into a shirt and tracksuit pants; Greg was still wearing a jacket and jeans. Greg found out that Jeff lived with his brother and father, his mother having died a few years ago. Luckily, Greg thought, Jeff’s dad and his brother Bill were going out tonight and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. Jeff’s room was very different from Greg’s. It seemed like he had the biggest room in the house, probably because his dad would rather not do work in his room. Instead of having posters all over the walls Jeff had drawings and photos pinned around on a few cork-boards, organised neatly on the wall above his bed. His bed sat against the wall (it was a queen bed shoved in a corner), and across the room in the corner furthest from the door was a desk that was once again neatly organised. Greg could already see in the ways they were different from each other. Greg wasn’t ‘messy’ but he wasn’t organised, and in his schoolbooks were loose pages and magazine clippings and newspaper articles. While books were neatly organised on the shelf in Jeff’s room, the books were piled in a corner in Greg’s.

“Did you invite me here on purpose, knowing that Bill and your dad would be gone?” Greg mused as he stared at the ceiling. He was lying back on Jeff’s bed, and Jeff was sitting on a beanbag in the corner next to the bed. Behind the beanbag on the wall was a cupboard with a mirror attached to it, and Greg had seen before that Jeff had a pretty big wardrobe, maybe even a little bigger than Greg’s.

“Maybe. They’ve got this thing that’s an hour away. I was supposed to go but I got out of it. Not that it would’ve been ideal for me anyway.” he looked to the door. It was still mostly open, and he could hear a commotion down the hallway as Bill and his dad got ready to leave. Greg followed Jeff’s gaze.

“Do they know?”

“Know about what?”

“About us.”

Jeff looked down. “Not exactly.”

Greg got up and shut the door gently. “What do you mean not exactly?”

“Well… Bill thinks I’m gay. Supposedly it’s the way I dress and apparently I just act very different around cute guys,” Jeff laughed and looked up again.

Greg folded his arms and grinned. “Do you think I’m cute?”

Immediately Jeff nodded. “You’re the cutest. A teddy bear.”

“Oh,” Greg bit his lip and looked away. “I… I wasn’t expecting you to say yes.”

“Why would I say no?” Jeff scoffed. “I asked you out. Clearly, I’m attracted to you. You’re even cuter when you’re all embarrassed like that.”

Greg smiled a sheepish smile and walked over to the beanbag, sinking into it next to Jeff. Their bodies were almost touching, something Greg deliberately did just to hopefully annoy Jeff. But in turn, he pulled Greg closer and Greg hung his legs across Jeff’s, replicating what had happened on their first date.

“Hey there,” Jeff whispered, their noses almost touching now. Greg let his hand wander where it wanted. Jeff’s shoulder, chest, neck, and hair. As Greg’s fingers toyed with Jeff’s hair Jeff leaned into the touch and rubbed circles with his thumb at the nape of Greg’s neck. “Stop teasing, and kiss me already, damn it.” Jeff hummed, pulling Greg closer easily and pressing their lips together. Jeff’s other arm curled around his waist inside his jacket and he closed the minimal space between them. Who knows how long they sat there, kissing and running their hands all over each other. 

Things started getting a bit more heated after a few minutes. Jeff pulled away for barely even a second, reconnecting their lips immediately afterwards. Greg _almost_ let out a hum of appreciation—he was keenly aware of his own movements and reactions—and parted his lips to let Jeff’s tongue in. In a moment he knew that this was the best he’d ever felt, and the fact that it was with Jeff was breathtaking. His own hand slightly tugged on Jeff’s hair, deepening their kiss. Greg was half-hard already, which made his cheeks redden a little. All they’d done was kiss. Greg breathed deeply and felt a groan catch in his throat, slightly pausing in his kissing endeavours to grab the other side of Jeff’s face.

Eventually, they slowed down to catch their breath. The entire time there was a horrifying fear that Bill would walk in on them but thankfully he didn’t, and by now he and Jeff’s dad would’ve left. Greg rested his head against Jeff’s, listening to him breathe. As Jeff’s breaths slowed down, so did Greg’s. It was unlikely but he was hoping his dick would… _go down_ as well. All they’d done was make out. Sure, it was pretty hot, but Greg was so inexperienced that it almost made him embarrassed.

“Jeff?” Greg whispered. Jeff rested a hand on Greg’s knee.

“Yes, babe?” 

Greg melted a little before shaking himself awake. “Uh… are you hard as well?”

“How could I not be after… after that?” he said as if it was obvious, a small hint of embarrassment showing. He licked his lips and Greg found himself doing the same. “Why?”

“Oh, no reason.” he shifted his position slightly. He kept his arms around Jeff’s neck but he sat back a bit. “Are we just gonna make out and cuddle? Because I’m all for that.”

Jeff laughed a little, hanging his other hand on Greg’s arm. “Of course we are. Do you wanna stay here though? I have a feelin’ the bed would be comfier.”

“Okay, as much as I love your… lap and sitting in it, I agree. Beds are way more comfy.” He unwrapped himself from Jeff and stood up. Behind him, Jeff jumped up and stretched before engulfing Greg in a hug from behind. If it were any other situation Greg would be absolutely fine with this. But he could feel Jeff’s erection behind him and he had the strong urge to either push back into him or wriggle out of his grasp. Of course, being Greg, he ended up settling for the latter.

Once he wriggled out he turned around and hugged him properly—he tried to ignore their lower halves being so close together—before grabbing his face and kissing him. Jeff sneaked a nip at Greg’s lower lip and Greg smiled around the kiss. When he pulled away he looked down, burying his face into Jeff’s chest, feeling Jeff wrap his arms around Greg’s head. Then Jeff unwrapped himself and walked over to the bed, leaving Greg and falling onto it face first. An idea struck Greg’s mind and he climbed onto the bed, straddling Jeff’s hips.

“What are you doing?” Jeff said, his voice muffled by the blanket. Greg pressed his hands down onto Jeff’s back.

“Sitting.”

“On me.”

“You love it.”

Jeff hoisted himself up so he was resting on his elbows. “Yeah, but I can’t see you.”

Greg slid his hands up towards Jeff’s shoulders, his body following suit until they were pressed together. His chin rested on Jeff’s shoulder. “That’s probably a good thing.”

Jeff turned his head slightly so he could see Greg. “It’s not, I wanna see you. Move.”

Greg rolled his eyes but rolled his body off Jeff so he was lying next to him. He raised his eyebrows in a way that hopefully said ‘better?’ and Jeff nodded, also rolling over so he was on his back. They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment before Jeff scooted back a bit. Greg glanced up; his head was on the pillow. 

“Can I…” Greg gestured to Jeff’s body after a few long moments. He had his hands behind his head and his— _really long_ —legs spread out. He looked at Greg innocently.

“If you want.”

Greg crawled onto Jeff’s body so they were face to face, slotting himself between his legs. Jeff’s face turned a little red but he grabbed either side of Greg’s face and pulled him so their lips were together. Greg’s eyes fluttered shut and _god_ Jeff’s lips felt good. They’d just been making out before but who was Greg to deny kissing his boyfriend? Right now their bodies were perfectly slotted together: Greg between Jeff’s legs, Jeff’s hands on his face, their torsos pressed against one another. It was _heaven_. 

Jeff’s tongue was in his mouth and his hands were weaving through his hair and down his spine. He shivered at the action, holding his hands on either side of Jeff’s face. Jeff’s hands played with the hem of Greg’s shirt until they finally sneaked inside, his hands warm against Greg’s skin. Greg jumped since obviously, no one had ever touched him like that before. He pulled his head away and reached back to hold Jeff’s arm.

“I—“

“—you’ve never been touched by another human, I know,” Jeff smirked. “Do you want me to stop?”

Greg made an ‘are you serious?’ face. “Why would I want that?”

“I don’t know, you jumped.” Jeff began moving his hands again, up and down Greg’s spine and his shoulder blades. His shirt was now rucked up around his chest and both of them realised it at the same time.

“Can I take your shirt off?” Jeff asked almost shyly. “I’ll take mine off.”

“One, yeah, I guess so,” Greg blushed and Jeff began moving so he could do just that. “And two, I’m taking your shirt off, that’s my job.”

Greg was forced to sit up so Jeff could properly remove the clothing. He adjusted himself so his legs were either side of Jeff’s hips, sitting on him. Then the realisation hit him that his shirt was off. His immediate reaction was to cover his face. Jeff was seeing him half-naked. He was light; there was barely any muscle on his body and he was pretty pale. Underneath him, Jeff sat up and grabbed his hands from his face. Before Greg could stop him he pulled them away and held them. Greg looked down at him sheepishly and tried to cover himself with his arms.

“Greg, stop,” he whispered. “You’re beautiful.”

“Not really…” Greg protested. “I can only _imagine_ what you look like without a shirt, Mr Davis.”

Jeff quirked an eyebrow, his cheeks tinged red from what Greg called him. “Why don’t you find out, handsome?”

 _Ohmygodisthisactuallyhappening._ Greg swooned. Okay, he was so glad he managed to keep that in his head. Jeff let go of his hands and Greg cautiously moved them so they were around Jeff’s hips, where the end of his shirt was. Slowly he pulled it up and over Jeff’s head, his arms way up in the air as he did. He dropped the shirt onto the floor and no matter what he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

If he wasn’t already hard, he would’ve been from seeing that. “Oh, Jesus _christ_ —“

“—you like it?” Jeff leaned back onto his hands. “Greg you’re—“

Jeff was interrupted by Greg crashing their lips together in a hungry kiss. _When in doubt, make out._ They both fell down onto the bed, lips locked and bare chests pressed together. The sensation of bare skin on bare skin was _electrifying_ to Greg and he was loving every moment. They barely took any moment to breathe because for now, kissing was like breathing. 

It happened so suddenly; Jeff _rolled_ them over so he was on top. Greg didn’t even know how it was possible to do that so quickly but he wasn’t going to complain. Jeff bit his lip and tugged it as he pulled away. Greg looked into his eyes. They were very… lustful? Was that the right word? Whatever it was, Greg was doubly turned on by it. 

“You ever seen um, people with dark marks on their neck?” Jeff managed to say. He looked very eager for something. 

Greg nodded. “Yes. What, you’re gonna give me a hickey?”

Jeff licked his lips and dipped his head to Greg’s neck and kissed him softly. Greg reached his own hand up and covered his mouth just in case he made a noise. Jeff’s teeth sunk into his neck and he began to suck a bruise onto his skin. Greg’s eyes fluttered closed and his heart began to thump. He didn’t even think about how on display the hickey would be, he was only thinking about how _fucking_ good it felt. Jeff planted small kisses around the area as he worked on his neck, nipping at the skin. When he had decided that he was done he trailed his tongue up the expanse of Greg’s neck before looking at Greg’s face. He was breathing fast and he had his hands over his face. 

“Oh my fuck…” Greg whispered, tearing his hands away and looking into Jeff’s eyes. “You’re very good at that.”

Jeff shrugged and laughed a bit. “I can tell.”

Greg pouted at him and ruffled his hair. “You’re also an exceptionally good kisser.”

“So are you, Greg. Strange for someone who’s never kissed before.” Jeff said teasingly. “Practised with your pillow have you?”

Greg rolled his eyes. “You wish.”

“The thought of you making out with a pillow is weird. The thought of you making out with _me_ , however, is awesome.” Jeff looked down at Greg. “So I’m gonna keep thinking about that.”

“Sure, keep thinking about that.” Greg lifted his head up and rested an arm behind it. He was a lot more comfortable than he was about five minutes ago, which was an extremely good thing. “Think about it when you’re masturbating to the thought of me.” 

Jeff flushed a bright red and hid his face into Greg’s chest. “You know I already do, babe.”

“Of course, I’m just so irresistible that it’d be a shock if you didn’t,” Greg grinned and traced circles on his shoulder.

Jeff lifted his face again, this time it wasn’t as red but there was still a faint blush to his cheeks. He had a wide grin plastered on his face. “You know what would be better than thinking about you while I jack off?”

“What?” 

“You kissing me while giving me a hand-job.”

Greg shook his head, chuckling. “Nope. Nice try, but nope.”

“Don’t worry, I know. I wouldn’t pressure you to do anything. But I know you’ve thought about it.” Jeff trailed his fingers along Greg’s body; he was looking Greg in the eyes and there was something about it that made Greg feel like if Jeff punched him he’d be okay with it. Greg forced himself to look away. “And if you haven’t, you’re thinking of it now. And you will think about it while jerking off to the thought of _me_.”

Greg shivered as Jeff’s fingers traced his body. Now he was thinking about it and Jeff was right, he would masturbate to that thought. “We can go on like this forever, but the thought of me thinking about kissing you while jacking you off, _while_ I’m masturbating is probably going to be on your mind when you next jack off. So like, tomorrow, when I leave.”

Jeff thought about it a moment and nodded. “Yeah, probably.”

Greg smiled and lay his head back down on the pillow. Jeff kissed him once before settling his head into the nook between Greg’s neck and shoulder, his fingers still trailing all over Greg’s body. At first, it was just over his torso but then he moved his fingers to Greg’s arm and trailed along it until he got to Greg’s hand and he laced their fingers together.

“You always want to hold my hand.”

“So?”

“It’s cute.”

“I’m cute, that’s why.”

“At least you know it.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote it, but you read it.


	6. She's The Devil Mom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff's brother forces him to confess something, and the gang play truth or dare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter in Jeff's POV. It will start to do this a few times in the story :)
> 
> I'm so so so so sorry this is so late! I've had so much schoolwork in the past two weeks that's it's been impossible for me to write, and I also got hit with a little bit of writer's block :(

It kinda sucked that it was raining today but Jeff didn’t mind. He kinda liked the rain. Standing in it was fun when he was sad as well. Thankfully he wasn’t sad as much as he was a few years ago but there were a few bad days. Today he wouldn’t stand in it. It was the weekend at least, and he had all the free time in the world. Currently, he was sitting on his beanbag and staring out the window at the rain. It was pretty mesmerising, he had to admit. That was one of his favourite things about the rain. He could stare at it for hours, the thoughts of assignments far out of his mind.

Jeff wasn’t the greatest at school. After he moved in freshman year he stopped trying as hard as he used to. It didn’t help that he wasn’t good at math anyway, ever since elementary. Art was the only thing he really tried in anymore as well as English. As long as he graduated he was fine. Yeah, he may hand in some assignments a few days late or not at all, but he hadn’t received any Fs yet. His parents had tried to get him a tutor but none of them were right. They were mostly old white guys who got mad when Jeff didn’t get something right, which was counterproductive. They would sit there, poring over the same problem for at least ten minutes, if not longer. The tutor, tapping his pencil against the table and Jeff struggling to understand because he wasn’t explaining it well enough or in any way that was different from the first way he explained it. Jeff was glad his parents gave up on tutors. They were frustrating.

He huffed out a sigh and settled more into the beanbag. Before Greg came over the first time he never sat on it much but now he sat on it almost too much. Well, the first time they didn’t even go into Jeff’s room. But the Tuesday after their first date he came into Jeff’s room and that’s where they stayed, on the beanbag. It wasn’t quite big enough to fit two people but it worked well enough. Greg usually sat on Jeff’s lap, legs extended way out past the edge of the beanbag and one arm around Jeff’s shoulders, though a few times it was the other way around. They wouldn’t make out all the time, sometimes they just sat and talked. Sometimes Greg would sit cross-legged on Jeff’s desk after carefully moving his things out of the way, leaning against the wall behind him. Jeff smiled just thinking about it. There was a certain smell to Greg that warmed Jeff’s heart whenever he was around, and a new taste to his lips. He had kissed guys before but kissing a new person always brought new tastes. Jeff was almost addicted to how Greg tasted, as creepy as it sounds. He almost always licked his lips after they paused from kissing just to taste him again. It was a bit salty but also sweet. Jeff didn’t really know how to explain it but it was good. Really good.

The sound of his door suddenly creaking open made him turn his head to see that his brother Bill was standing there, a blank expression on his face. 

“What is it?”

He moved completely into the room and closed the door behind him. “Can I speak to you?”

“Alright,” Jeff said unsurely. His chest was tightening, was that normal?

“You don’t have to answer me, because I’ve asked this literally one thousand times,” he laughed awkwardly. “And I probably know what you’re going to say anyway. But are you… are you… you know… _gay_?”

Jeff almost choked on his own saliva. True, Bill had asked that ‘literally one thousand times’ but he still wasn’t expecting it. Usually, he denied it but this time he just kept silent, hoping Bill would keep talking. If he never answered, that was okay. If he never answered, he wasn’t technically denying it. Plus, Bill said he knew what Jeff was going to say. It was going to be a ‘no’, like always.

Thankfully, Bill kept talking so Jeff didn’t need to respond. “I mean, on Friday night when we were supposed to go to Aunt Bertha’s birthday. You didn’t go, and you haven’t seen her since the fated church incident a few years ago. You and I both know she’s homophobic because of how openly she talks of gays going to hell, and obviously because of what she did to you despite having no real proof that you were gay and just her ‘holy knowledge’ from the Lord.”

Jeff looked away from Bill and folded his arms, pursing his lips. The Aunt Bertha thing was kinda funny. Not then, but now it was.

“So yeah, you didn’t go and instead one of your friends stayed over. Greg, was it?” Bill muttered the last part, clearly trying to remember. Greg and Bill hadn’t even officially met. It was a brief ‘hello’ before they both went to Jeff’s room, both times Greg came over.

“It was Greg,” he confirmed. “What’s this got to do with anything?”

“Uh, the next morning when he left he had a hickey. That’s suspicious, Jeff.”

 _FUCK._ Of course it was that. Any other time Jeff would’ve tried to make the hickey less obvious but this time he clearly wasn’t thinking. He closed his eyes. He’s a complete idiot. A blush started creeping onto his face and he wanted to tuck his head into his shoulders like a tortoise. 

“Jeff?” Bill prodded his arm, causing him to jump. 

“I-I… have to go to the _bathroom_ ,” he said definitively and got up, dashing out of the room. Luckily, Bill didn’t follow him. He shut the bathroom door, listening for his footsteps just in case. Then he jumped onto the sink and curled up into a ball. It wasn’t that he was afraid or anything, he just didn’t want Bill to know yet. Even though he probably knew already. He sounded like he had figured it out by the way he was talking to Jeff about it. Well, obviously, because of the fucking hickey he gave Greg. He thought he’d be able to keep this relationship to himself for much longer than six days. He craned his head around and looked in the mirror. Greg had given him one as well and it was _just_ as visible. He tucked his head underneath his arms and stared out between his legs at a tile on the floor. 

Suddenly, a knock on the door. “Jeff?”

“What do you want, Bill?” he groaned. He hadn’t even been in here long. 

“I know you’re not _using_ the bathroom. You’re just sitting on the counter and questioning your life.” 

Jeff froze. His toes stopped wiggling, which he hadn’t even noticed he was doing until he stopped. “So?”

“You’re avoiding my question!”

“I’m allowed to do that!”

The door burst open and Bill came parading in, scaring Jeff off the sink and towards the corner. Jeff should’ve locked it, why didn’t he do that? He always locked the door, obviously because he was in the _bathroom_. Why did he forget now? His eyes darted around the small room and Bill stepped just a bit closer. There was a small pattern of light coming in through the window that shone directly onto Bill’s face. He squinted but didn’t move.

“You literally can’t avoid this. All the evidence is against you right now,” he said. 

Jeff swallowed thickly. “So?”

“Can you just tell me? It’s been long enough.” Bill pleaded and leaned against the sink. Jeff fidgeted on one foot to the other. Okay, maybe he was a little scared. The first time he’d done this everything had gone wrong for him. Other than Greg and his friends, Jeff had barely told a soul. Bill was his _brother_. He’d known him his entire almost-eighteen years of living. There was an image of Jeff in Bill’s mind. Of course, Jeff didn’t know what that was but it was immediately going to change if Jeff told him the truth.

“Okay. Okay. Okay, okay. Okay.” Jeff cracked his knuckles and forced it out. “Okay, yes. Yes. I’m… _I’m gay_.”

“What?” Bill raised an eyebrow, teasing him. He already knew. He already fucking knew. 

“Please don’t make me say it again.”

Bill held up his arms. “Alright.”

“Why did you make me tell you?” Jeff edged a bit closer to the door. He wanted to sit on his beanbag and watch the rain again. He also wanted to get away from Bill as quickly as possible. There was a huge weight off his shoulders but it didn’t feel that amazing.

“I don’t know, for fun?”

“You already fucking knew,” Jeff pointed out, glaring at his brother. “You just wanted to hear me say it.”

“You gave Greg a _hickey!_ And so what if I wanted to hear you say it? I also wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but my suspicions were pretty high.” Bill scoffed, moving to the side. “By the way, try hiding the hickey next time, eh?”

“How could you not be one hundred percent sure if you saw that my boyfriend had a hickey?” Jeff scrunched his face up in confusion. 

“Wait, _boyfriend?_ I thought you guys were just having some fun!”

“Why would two guys do that for fun in this society? We’re fucking gay.” Jeff rolled his eyes and managed to get out the door past him so he left to his room, ignoring Bill. Bill was one confusing guy. Thankfully he didn’t follow or try to talk to him more about it. He shut his door and sank down behind it. This wasn’t as grand as other people made it seem. The other queer people he’d met at a festival once had told them how when they came out they felt a massive relief. He hadn’t told the people he’d met that he was gay because at that point he was still a bit ashamed of it. But they told him how it had built up for years and finally, it felt wonderful and amazing, jim-dandy one said. But Jeff didn't feel like that right now. Bill had forced it out of him which Jeff expected would happen eventually, but it wasn’t how he expected. He should’ve resisted more. That hickey could’ve been a bruise from something. From what he didn’t know, but it didn’t have to be a hickey. 

The first time he came out it went extremely bad for him. The same thing probably wouldn’t happen now but Jeff was still nervous. Why did it matter that Bill knew about him and Greg? It wasn’t his business. Then again, both of them had been careless with their hickey-placement. Anyway, he didn’t have to know but now he did now. What if he told their dad? What if he told his friends? There was a possibility he was uncomfortable with it but acted like he was okay just to get the information before telling people and outing him. Maybe Jeff was thinking too much into it. Suddenly the rain wasn’t peaceful and it was hitting the side of the house very aggressively. He jumped up and shut the curtain so quickly it almost slid to the other side of the window. It was only four-thirty in the afternoon but Jeff wanted to go to bed already. 

So he did. He face-planted onto his bed and took a nap. When he woke up it was considerably darker in his room and he couldn’t see anything. Maybe he’d gone blind.

 _I jump to conclusions really quickly_ , he realised. He groggily rolled over to the foot of his bed where he reached as far as he could for the light switch, flicking it on. The light was bright and he squished his eyes closed. There wasn’t a clock in his room so he didn’t know how long he was asleep. He oughta get one, it would be beneficial. With his eyes still closed Jeff scooted off the bed and stretched his arms above his head. He slowly turned and opened his door to find that everywhere else was dark. He left his door closed ever so slightly and snuck down the hallway to the kitchen. The curtains in the living room were open and the moonlight made the room glow. Luckily there was a clock above the fireplace, so he walked over and squinted at it, trying to read. 

“Eleven-thirty-four?” he whispered to himself. “I didn’t know I could sleep _that_ long.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around. He missed dinner and neither his dad or his brother had the good grace to wake him up for it. Maybe his dad wasn’t even home. He left around lunchtime to do… something. Probably for work. It was weird that he had to do that kind of thing on a Sunday but Jeff was done with questioning it. There was no way of knowing if he was home or not now anyway because Jeff couldn’t just barge into his room at pretty much midnight. Jeff just had to assume he was home. 

Since he just slept seven hours there was no way he’d be able to get back to sleep, so he had to think of something to do that might make him remotely tired. He could go out. But at midnight? That probably wasn’t entirely safe, and where would he even go? He could go to Greg’s house. Although he didn’t know if he could remember where Greg lived. He had been there once. Would that be weird? Showing up at his house in the middle of the night? 

_Of course, it’s weird, you fuck._ He made a face and sat at the counter, resting his arms on it. Maybe he should just try and sleep again, no matter how impossible it seemed. He didn’t usually stay up this late so maybe his brain would think that he should be asleep, therefore making him fall asleep. 

Who was he kidding? There was no way he’d be able to sleep now. So he sneaked back to his room and pulled some clothes on before sneaking his most-likely-grounded ass out of the house and to Bill’s car, where he drove to wherever the hell he wanted.

The next morning at school brought different problems. Maybe going out at midnight wasn’t the greatest idea. He got home again at three in the morning after driving to the city and wandering. There wasn’t anyone around because it was Sunday night/Monday morning, which was a blessing. But when he got home he found his father in the kitchen, fuming and worried sick about where he was. When Bill woke up the next morning and found out he laughed at Jeff and bullied him until Jeff threatened to hit him.

So he was grounded as he expected, but it wasn’t that harsh. Only a week. If he was extra good, he knew he’d be able to convince his dad to let the punishment go. He also wasn’t allowed to drive Bill’s car for that week, so he had to catch the bus to school or walk. He barely managed to make it to school on time. He couldn’t see Greg before school but since they had homeroom together it was okay.

“Did you sleep in late?” Greg teased, nudging him with his elbow as he sat down. His face was bright and smiley. Jeff’s eyes examined him, catching sight of the hickey.

“Never,” he grinned. “I’m grounded.”

Greg’s eyes went wide. “What? Why? Is it because of the hickey? Oh god, it’s because of the hickey—“

“—slow down, kid.” Jeff laughed. “Dad didn’t see it.”

“Then why are you grounded, you delinquent?” he raised an eyebrow. 

“I snuck out last night.”

“Ooh, a rebel. I like that.” Greg subtly licked his lips and leaned back in his chair. 

Jeff laughed again. “I slept from four-thirty to eleven-thirty, missin’ dinner and unable to get back to sleep so I took Bill’s car and went for a ride on the town.”

“You’re a sneaky boy.”

“Well no, because my dad caught me trying to get back in the house.”

Greg shook his head and smirked. “Clearly you haven’t mastered the art of sneaking out yet. Maybe I need to give you some helpful hints.”

“You sneak out?” Jeff bit his lip and repeated what Greg said before. “A rebel. I like that.”

Greg’s lips curled into a smile. “All the time, baby. It’s easy when your parents sleep like dead raccoons and your sister is barely even home. I occasionally sneak out to Ryan’s and climb into his room at midnight. It’s why his window is always unlocked, so I don’t wake up anyone else.”

“Do you go back home afterwards?”

“Obviously, I usually need to get my things and come to school the next day. I go back home around five.”

Jeff hummed and nodded interestedly. “Maybe you do have to give me some ‘helpful hints’.”

“Shut up,” Greg snorted and pushed his arm lightly.

Jeff grinned and turned towards the teacher right as he cleared his throat. He droned on about what was going to happen this week before taking the attendance. Most of the class wasn’t listening and Jeff was one of them. He was staring directly ahead of him until he saw a hand waving in front of his face. Slowly he turned his head and looked at Greg curiously.

“Just… making sure you exist.” Greg whispered, amused. Jeff snatched Greg’s hand into his own and raised an eyebrow.

“Is this proof enough?”

Greg was glancing around the room. “Y-yeah.”

He let Greg’s hand go and grinned at him before looking away again. They’d been dating for pretty much a week now. If they were a straight couple then holding hands would be okay. Unfortunately, they weren’t straight, and being gay was taboo. They had to hide their relationship from people they didn’t know as if they were diseased. It didn’t sit right in Jeff’s stomach but he’d rather be safe and unknown than known and targeted. He was sure Greg felt that way as well. 

Even though Jeff was grounded, he didn’t go home right away after school. There was no way of his dad knowing when he got home since his dad got home around six o’clock. Greg joined him, as well as Ryan and Colin. Thankfully Ryan had a car and was able to drive them to the city from school, and hopefully, he could take Jeff home as well. Jeff still didn’t know Ryan that well, but they were at least friends. Greg was his boyfriend, he kind of had to like Ryan. That was okay, Ryan was a cool guy.

“That’s _The Red Rose_ ,” Greg pointed at a coffee shop across the street. Jeff followed where his finger was pointing. It looked nice. Old, but nice. Inside it was buzzing with activity.

“Is it good?”

“We always get coffee there.” Colin chimed in. “So it must be.”

“Yeah, if our lives were a tv show that would be ‘the place’ that we’d always hang out in.” Greg made quotation marks with his fingers. “It’s almost like a second home.”

“The owner, Michael, _totally_ loves us.” Ryan pointed out. “He might act like we annoy the fuck out of him but I know for a fact that that’s not true.”

“We might have to go there sometime, Greg. On a date.” Jeff smiled. They were well past the shop now so they couldn’t go today, but sometime in the future, it would be great. Greg nodded in agreement and knocked into him playfully. 

Ryan looked back at them over his shoulder. “You know, you two are cute already and you’ve only been together a week.”

“You’re my favourite couple in the school.” Colin gestured at them both. “The other might be the joke that Chip and Drew are together.”

Ryan laughed as Greg and Jeff shared a confused look. “That is pretty iconic.”

Colin and Ryan kept barrelling on about the Chip and Drew thing as they entered the city park. This was where Jeff and Greg went after they had coffee. The city park was ginormous, and it took at least fifteen minutes to walk the entire length of it. Where they had coffee was at almost the other end of the park. Jeff could see a few other kids from school. He didn’t know them personally, but perhaps they were in his class or he had just seen them around.

“Isn’t that Drew over there?” Jeff pointed out, interrupting Ryan and Colin. They squinted at the kids in the distance and it was. Brad was with him.

“It is.”

Greg groaned and slipped his hands beneath his glasses, digging the heels of his palm into his eyes. “Kill me now, why don’t you?”

“I’m not going to do that,” Jeff looked at him curiously. Greg didn’t answer him.

Ryan looked between Drew and Greg. “We can hope he doesn’t come over here.”

“But Brad is with him. _He_ might want to come over here.” Colin said. “Brad is cool, and Drew might just ignore you. Same with Chip, he might just ignore you for Drew.”

“God I hope so.”

They continued walking further into the park on the cement path that wound through it. It was an okay day today. It was still mostly cloudy and the sun wasn’t really out, but it wasn’t raining like it was the day before. Jeff was starting to feel really tired because of how late he was up but it was okay. He would probably be just as tired if he tried to go to sleep again. It felt good to be out in the night though. He’d never experienced the city at two in the morning before. It was like being the only one in the grocery store apart from the cashier and you could feel the emptiness and weird vibe that it was holding. Or when you got home after a long trip and you were re-experiencing everything you knew but with new thoughts and ideas. 

Brad did end up coming over to them. He greeted all of them joyously since they were good friends. Drew and his own friends didn’t come over but they all stared at them, smirking. Jeff couldn’t figure out why.

“Why do you hang out with them Brad?” whined Greg, glancing over at Drew. “You know how he treats me.”

“I don’t know,” Brad looked slightly uncomfortable. “I mean, I _am_ on the team. I kinda have to.”

“The football team is made up of assholes.” Jeff pointed out. 

“I know, I hang out with them.”

Colin also rolled his eyes. “Brad can hang out with whomever he wants, Greg. Just be glad Brad isn’t a dick.”

“Fine,” Greg said after a few long seconds.

Jeff patted his shoulder reassuringly. “There, there. It’ll be okay. I can fight them all off if you want because as you can see I have giant muscles.”

Greg scrunched his mouth up at Jeff as he flexed his skinny arms, trying not to smile at his dorky behaviour. Jeff then ruffled his hair quickly and watched, amused, as he tried to duck away and fix his hair. Jeff laughed at him.

“My hair is ruined now, thanks.” Greg squinted at him.

“Au contraire, it’s actually better now.” 

Greg raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah, I’m a professional hair stylist if you didn’t know,” he grinned. 

“I’ll have to come to you for every hair dilemma I have in the future.” Greg played along, looking Jeff up and down. “Mr Stylist.”

Jeff chuckled and reached for Greg’s hair again. “Your hair is soft. I love it.”

“I wash it twice a week,” Greg leaned into Jeff’s touch. “So I’d expect it to be.”

“Squeaky clean.”

Suddenly Ryan nudged Greg, somehow shaking him out of a trance that he was in. Jeff looked at him curiously then realised that he and Greg were pretty close but also in _public_. Jeff quickly retracted his hand, giving Greg a sad look.

“We should go back to that hidden area,” Greg said, deadpan. “Then we could fucking make out.”

Jeff didn’t respond, instead of thinking of that exact thing. Wow, Greg and him making out. Probably Jeff’s favourite activity. The others were still talking to Brad, and Jeff looked over to where Drew was. Only he wasn’t there anymore. He must’ve left, bored of waiting for him. Jeff looked around and spotted an empty set of equipment that no child was using. He grabbed Greg’s attention and pointed to it, then managed to move the group over to where it was. Out of the corner of Jeff’s eye, he could see one displeased parent looking at them. Adults really dislike teenagers, don’t they? It’s not as if they were doing anything bad. There were also no kids on this playground. It was fine.

“That mom over there looks so upset,” Greg giggled, pointing just where Jeff could see the parent.

Jeff nestled himself into the bottom of the slide and laughed. “She does.”

“Why is she so pissy? She doesn’t even have a child that could potentially be playing on this playground.” Greg leaned on the slide next to Jeff. “Obviously we deserve to be here.”

“Maybe her children are already grown up and they were shitty teenagers. Maybe she has a vendetta against all teenagers.” Jeff suggested, still looking over at her. 

“She looks exactly like the kind of parent who let her children roam free but then got upset when they did something wrong, not at the child but at someone else for letting her child do the wrong thing.” 

Jeff laughed and looked at Greg. “She does, doesn’t she?”

“What are you losers talking about?” Ryan leaned down from the platform he was sitting on. “Who is ‘she’?”

“That lady over there,” Greg nodded his head in the direction of her without looking. “She’s the devil mom.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Why is she still staring at us?”

“Because she’s a devil mom!” Jeff was still laughing a bit. Ryan chuckled.

“How?”

“If you were listening to us you’d know.”

Jeff almost lost track of time they were having so much fun. They did leave the equipment they were sitting at but they didn’t go very far. Just to a more secluded area in the park. It wasn’t quite where he and Greg went after their date but it was pretty close. Since it was nearing four-thirty as well all the children were starting to leave with their parents. At one point they all played truth or dare like a bunch of teenage girls. Colin dared Jeff to climb part of a tree and jump to the ground without dying. Thankfully he managed to land safely. It was a pretty high branch he chose. Jeff heard Greg gasp on the way down, then everyone laughing at Greg because he gasped. When it was Ryan’s turn he dared Greg and Jeff to kiss, a sneaky glint in his eye. 

“Alright, fine.” Greg gave in after barely five seconds of nagging. “I’ve made you guys kiss enough, I guess it’s my turn.”

Jeff turned his head to Greg and Greg immediately kissed him quick on the lips. Everyone started complaining that ‘that wasn’t a real kiss!’

 _It was real enough for me_. Jeff bit his lip and looked at Greg again. He was a little red. It was kinda cute. “Hey, look at me.”

Greg turned and Jeff leaned in to kiss him properly. He definitely caught Greg off guard because for a second he didn’t kiss back but when he did Jeff smiled into the kiss. Then he pulled away because he could hear everyone cooing and awing at the two of them. 

“Was that a real kiss?” Jeff smirked at them all and shuffled the smallest bit closer to Greg.

Ryan nodded. “Hell yeah, it was. Anyway, it’s your turn, Greg.”

Greg had his hands on his face but Jeff could still see how bright red he was. Jeff nudged his side and he shook his head and said between his hands, “I’m forfeiting my turn. You go, Jeff.”

“Alright. Greg, I dare you to kiss me again.”

He probably deserved that slap on the arm.

 

The next day at school Jeff managed to arrive early. He didn’t have to run at all like he did the day before and he was able to see Greg before school this time. He was sitting at their table, reading. Jeff strolled up to him and stood for a few seconds, waiting for him to look up. When he didn’t Jeff grinned and walked around behind him.

“What are you reading?” Jeff sat immediately next to him and looked over his shoulder.

He jumped almost a foot out of his seat and held his hand over his heart. “You scared the _fuck_ out of me, Jesus Christ.”

“My name isn’t Jesus Christ,” Jeff teased. “Is that _The Shining?_ ”

“Indeed,” Greg showed him the cover. 

“I told you to read that, didn’t I?”

Greg nodded. “You did, after forcibly planting yourself next to me in homeroom.”

Jeff quirked an eyebrow. “Is there a problem with that?”

“Of course not, it eventually got me a boyfriend.” Greg kissed him on the cheek. “Who has a great taste in books.”

Jeff couldn’t stop his grin. “Oh, stop.”

“I’m serious, I’m really enjoying this.” Greg waved the book in his hand. “How long did it take you to read it?”

“A few days.” Jeff thought about it. “I mean it’s what, five-hundred pages?”

Greg flipped to the back, looking determinedly in the corner. “Pretty much.”

“Yeah. A few days.” 

Greg shut the book and put it back in his bag. Jeff ran his fingers through his hair and leaned his head on Greg’s shoulder. “I want to go to bed.”

“How late were you up last night?”

“Not late at all. I’d say about ten,” said Jeff, closing his eyes. “I just want to go to bed.”

“Can I join you?” Jeff felt Greg’s hand on his head.

Jeff opened his eyes and glanced in the direction of Greg even though he couldn’t see him. “In what way?”

“Sleeping, you pervert.” Greg giggled.

Jeff chuckled and lifted his head just as Ryan was walking up to them. Jeff looked at Greg’s watch and it read that it was almost time for homeroom. Greg teased Ryan saying he was late, Ryan retorting by saying Greg was just early. 

Jeff was still looking at Greg’s watch. “Ryan, you’re late.”

“Sure, sure, side with Greg, why don’t you?” Ryan scoffed playfully. Jeff raised an eyebrow. Arguing about this? Really?

“Look at the time!” Greg whined, thrusting his wrist out of Jeff’s hand and towards Ryan. 

Ryan laughed. “Okay fine, yes. I’m late. But you’re also early. So was Jeff.”

Greg let out a long groan and rested his head face-down on the table. Jeff also laughed at him and pat his back reassuringly. He turned his head towards Jeff so his face wasn’t flat against the wooden table. 

Much like the day before the school day went pretty quickly. Jeff had most of his classes with Greg so he was able to spend a lot of time with him, especially in art. They had really started working on their major pieces now after a week of planning so now they were allowed to spread out to wherever they wanted, which included the second room. Only a few people moved over to the second room, two of them being Greg and Jeff.

Jeff was set up on one end of the table and Greg was right next to him. To Jeff, sitting on the table was a much better option than perching on a stool, so while he was sitting cross-legged on the end of the table Greg was next to him on a stool but facing the other direction. In front of Jeff was his easel and clipped onto the easel was his art book with a small replica of what his art would be. Greg leaned into him and craned his head back.

“I’m already bored, Jeff.”

Jeff looked around. No one was looking at either of them. “It’s been ten minutes.”

“And yet here I am, bored.” he sighed. “I’m not in an artsy mood today.”

“You’re never in an artsy mood.”

Greg swivelled around on his stool and looked at Jeff’s easel. “Touché.”

“Spoilers,” Jeff covered his blank easel with his hands unsuccessfully. 

“You haven’t even done anything.” Greg laughed. “What are you going to do?”

Jeff studied his art book. “I mean, I’ve planned to paint an unstrung violin.”

“What is that supposed to represent?” Greg squinted, trying to get a closer look.

“Uh…” Jeff laughed. “I don’t actually know.”

Greg snorted and adjusted his glasses. “You’re a pro at this.”

Jeff posed dramatically with his paintbrush in one hand and a cup of water in the other. Greg pretended to take a picture of him so he continued to pose as if he was a model. Both of them were aware of the other kids glancing over their own shoulders at the two of them. They were being distracting but that wasn’t their problem. If the other kids had a problem with that they would say something.

Suddenly, Ms Taylor wandered into the room and stopped when she caught sight of Jeff and Greg messing around. Her eyebrow peaked and she folded her arms. “Having fun, boys?”

Jeff pretended to flex. “Heaps.”

“Are you doing work?” She said, already knowing the answer already. Jeff looked at his easel.

“No.” He elongated the word and grinned sheepishly. Greg shook his head and perched his legs on a higher part of the stool, folding his hands into his lap.

“You should probably do that,” Ms Taylor gestured to the both of them. “Now.”

She continued into the room towards the other students. Jeff let his head fall backwards and Greg groaned quietly. 

“I’d rather jump out the window and run away to the circus.”

“Me too.”

“Let’s be clowns together.”  
“Fuck yeah.”

They made eye contact and burst into giggles. Then they continued doing their work like the good students they were.


	7. You Dragged Me Down To Loser Level

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg stays at Ryan's for the night and they have an interesting conversation. The next day Jeff and Greg have a little fun when Greg's parents aren't home.

Greg clapped his hands sarcastically at Ryan. He bowed just as sarcastically and they both burst out laughing. They were playing charades because they were _so_ fucking bored it was insane. Greg was at Ryan’s house for the night but coincidentally his older brother was visiting from out of town, and his other older brother was also at Ryan’s house. This meant that the tv was currently in use and Ryan didn’t have a tv in his room. It was only seven-thirty as well, way too early for them to be going to bed. They had no other choice though. That didn’t mean they were going to sleep at seven-thirty. They weren’t five.

Greg jumped up and tried to think of something to act out. Usually, while he was guessing what Ryan was doing he would be thinking of something to act but he had gotten sidetracked with the insanity of Ryan’s charade. Then, an idea came to him. He muttered to himself and shook his head. This was so bad. Then, he began nodding and he jutted his bottom jaw out, frowning heavily with closed eyes and raised eyebrows.

“Oh my fucking god—“

Greg struggled to hold his laughter in but he continued on doing the exact same thing. Ryan was laughing and he fell over onto the bed.

“Are you—are you…” he wheezed, forcing out his words. “Trying to—trying to… do-doing Robert De Niro?”

“YES!” Greg cheered, also bursting out into laughter. Ryan clutched his stomach and rolled onto his side, facing away from Greg. Greg fell to his knees in hysteria. They were so bored that the smallest things were setting them off. Greg’s face was hurting from how much he was smiling and his stomach was cramped but he was ecstatic, so it didn’t matter. This reminded him of when he would be in class with Ryan, forcing down his laughter so he wouldn’t get in trouble. Ryan was a funny guy, so it was difficult. Greg’d be sitting there practically snorting and Ryan would be next to him, barely letting out even the slightest huff of laughter. He still got told off for laughter anyway.

Ryan calmed down before Greg, sighing heavily and sat up. Greg wasn’t making any noise but he was almost crying.

“We’re losers…” Ryan grinned. Greg nodded and tried to regulate his breathing. _Breathe in, breathe out. In, out._

“Yeah, yeah… we are,” his voice was light and breathy and his stomach was still cramped. He crawled up towards the bed and lay his torso upon it, looking up at Ryan. 

“It wasn’t even that good an impression,” Ryan teased. 

Greg immediately jumped up and pushed Ryan over. “Shut up, as if you could do a better impression of him.”

“I’m not gonna bother trying.” 

“Good. Just let me bask in my win then.”

Greg sat on the bed behind Ryan and rested against the wall. Ryan rolled onto his back and stared up at Greg, then Greg lay his legs across Ryan’s stomach. He began wiggling his toes and he looked at Ryan.

“What impressions can you do?” he continued. 

“I have no idea,” Ryan laughed a bit. “I bet there’s someone I can do well, but I don’t know who.”

Greg cocked his head to the side. “Are you just avoiding the question so you don’t have to do an impression?”

“No,” he elongated the word, biting his lip to stop himself from smiling. Greg rolled his eyes and slid down the wall a bit more. 

“I guess we’re not playing charades anymore either.” he tried his best to sound unhappy but it didn’t really work. He was bored with charades, plus he couldn’t top what just happened.

“Yeah, no. You won, you definitely won with that awful Robert De Niro impression.”

Greg flipped his hair with one hand and crossed one leg over the other. “I’m still bored though.”

“You wanna keep playing charades?” Ryan raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Of course I don’t, but I’m bored.” Greg defended. 

“We could sneak out?”

“Not in the mood to be honest.” he frowned. “Plus, there are way too many people here.”

“Wouldn’t it make sense to sneak out then? There are so many people that they won’t notice we’re gone.” Ryan said. He didn’t look like he wanted to get up though, though he couldn’t with Greg partially lying on him anyway. 

“You’re forgetting something Ryan. I’m lazy as fuck.”

Ryan thought it over for about a second before agreeing. “Me too.”

Greg took his glasses off and cleaned them with his shirt. “The amount of times I’ve snuck out to come here is insane though. You know, earlier this week Jeff tried to sneak out and he got grounded. That never happens to me.”

“Even if my mom catches you,” said Ryan.

“Which rarely happens anyway.” Greg pointed out. “I wonder if she just expects me to show up at random times.”

“She kind of does. Sometimes during dinner, she’ll call either me or Stephen your name as if you’re at the house having dinner with us.” Ryan told him. “She’s unofficially adopted you as one of her own. So you’re practically my brother now.”

“I already was, to be fair.”

Ryan nodded. “True.”

“We’ve known each other since middle school.”

“That was so long ago.”

“Yeah, it was ages ago. Remember when we first met? In the library?” said Greg. “You were so cool, I was such a loser back then.”

“You’re still a loser.” Ryan poked his thigh. “You dragged me down to loser level.”

“You’re welcome.”

He let out a laugh. “It’s much better down here. You rarely have to deal with assholes.”

“Unless you’re me,” Greg reminded him, a small smile on his face. “But you don’t. Kids don’t beg you to say something funny like they did in sixth grade, remember that?”

“Ugh, that was the worst. And all because I said a _few_ funny things in class to get people to like me.” Ryan rolled his eyes. “They started liking me a little too much.”

“It was also because you were the tallest kid in sixth grade. People admired you and were also scared of you. I was an actual midget so I was easier to pick on.” 

“You’ve grown a lot since then though, aren’t you taller than Drew?”

“I grew like, ten inches in freshman year, but I’m still way skinny.” Greg held out his arm. “Drew is thick, but I am taller than him.”

“He could probably blow on you and you’d fall over.” Ryan teased him.

“You mock me, but that’s probably accurate.” Greg laughed, rolling over so he was facing Ryan. His head was at an awkward angle against the wall and his glasses weren’t sitting right on his face. “The first time he actually punched me, I know I’ll never forget that. Up until then, it was just teasing.”

“You looked hella fucked up then. You stayed at my house, didn’t you? I remember you making my mom call your mom and say that you were at mine.” Ryan furrowed his brow. 

“I didn’t want my dad to see the blue and black painting on my eye, he would’ve flipped the fuck out.”

“He saw it the next day though, didn’t he?”

Greg screwed his mouth to the side. “I can’t really remember, I think he either went for a work trip or neither of my parents came home that night. If he did see it I don’t remember him dying and going to heaven.”

“Do they do that often?”

“Do what?”

“Not come home,” Ryan said.

“Not really, but if Sara and I have been real pains in the ass then it’s highly likely that they’ll just leave for the night. Probably to have sex, which is just horrid to think about.” Then he thought about it, tucking his head into his shoulders in disgust.

Ryan also scrunched his face in horror. “Let’s not think about that.” 

Greg tried to shake the cringe out. “Fuck, why did I mention it?”

“You’re an idiot.”

“I can’t be an idiot and a loser, that’s just cruel.”

“And yet here you are.”

Greg squinted his eyes at Ryan and rolled over so he was facing away from him. Ryan managed to squirm his legs out from under Greg and he sat behind him cross-legged, resting his hands on Greg’s leg instead. 

“How are things going with Jeff?”

Greg turned his head slightly. “How do you mean?”

“Well, it’s been almost two weeks. A week and a half actually. I want to know how it’s going with you two love-birds.” Ryan said innocently. “I’m allowed to be interested in my friend’s love life.”

“Sometimes it’s all you wanna talk about,” he retorted. “But I can talk about Jeff for hours, so that’s okay. On Wednesday we went on a date despite Jeff being grounded.”

“How did he get grounded again?” Ryan rested an elbow on Greg’s leg and rested his chin on his hand. 

“He succeeded in sneaking out but not in sneaking back in.” he smiled. “His dad caught him at three in the morning.”

Ryan whistled. “Wow, clearly he hasn’t done that much before.”

“Either way it’s better than him being grounded for the hickey I gave him. Did you see it?” Greg turned onto his back. His neck was still uncomfortable against the wall.

“Oh trust me, _everyone_ saw it.”

Greg quirked an eyebrow.

“And we can see yours as well. Right there.” Ryan touched Greg’s neck where the hickey was and Greg blushed a bit. “You didn’t even try and hide it.”

“I know you can see it. I guess I forgot it was there.” he said. “They feel great.”

“Never had one.”

“You should get one, they’re hot.”

Ryan looked at him amusedly. “And just _where_ would I be able to find someone who is willing to give me a hickey, _just_ for the fun of it?”

Greg finally sat up against the wall. He folded his arms and smirked. “I bet Colin would be willing to do it. All you’d have to do is ask politely. Hell, you’d probably get more than just a hickey if you can catch my drift.”

Ryan folded himself over onto the bed and hid his face from Greg, a long, annoyed groan coming out of his mouth. Greg started laughing at him.

“Come on, you should definitely try it. I mean, if someone came up and asked me to bite them in the neck I’d be willing because that’s fucking hot. And if I was asking, I’d ask someone I liked. So I can just ask Jeff for one at any time.” He paused. “Well, not at school, obviously.”

“You can do it at school but I wouldn’t recommend it.” Ryan’s voice was muffled. “There is no fucking way I’m going to ask Colin to give me a _hickey_.”

“Why not?” Greg pouted. “I’m sure he’d dig it.”

“Maybe you find extreme public displays of affection hot, but I’m not you, Greg.” Ryan defended himself, still face-down into the bed.

“I’ll ask Jeff at school if you ask Colin.”

Ryan turned and glared at him. “ _No._ ”

“Fine. I might still ask Jeff anyway.” Greg giggled, then he burst out laughing again. “Hey, I bet asking Colin out for just a date doesn’t seem so bad now, huh?”

Ryan still glared at Greg. “You’re a dick.”

“So I’m an idiot, a loser, and a cock.”

“I think the word I used was ‘dick’.”

“Cock sounds edgier,” Greg giggled and let his body fall sideways onto the bed. Ryan propped himself up onto his elbows and looked at him with the hints of a smile on his face.

“You think I should ask Colin out?”

Greg held up a finger and tried to get the rest of his laughter out quickly. “It’s… uh… up to you.”

Ryan twisted himself around so he was on his back with his legs hung over the end of the bed. He didn’t say anything but he looked like he was deep in thought. At least, to Greg he did. Ryan had never been in a relationship, much like Greg before he and Jeff got together. But for years he’s always been exceptionally close to Colin. Of course, he and Greg were still best friends, and Greg wasn’t the jealous type. Colin was also supposed to come over tonight as well but he had to bail because of some super important family thing. Anyway, Greg could almost see the electricity that they shared whenever they held eye-contact for slightly too long, or a hug lingered just on the line of being overly friendly and being romantically interested. Oh, and especially how they looked at one another when the other wasn’t looking. If that wasn’t love, Greg didn’t know what was. He had never talked to Colin about this, but he was starting to think he should. Maybe he could set them up, play cupid.

Greg looked at Ryan curiously. If he and Colin did go out what would it be like? Would they still act the same? They acted a lot like Greg and Jeff just without the consistent PDA. Neither Ryan or Greg knew exactly what Colin’s sexuality was but they both had strong senses that he at least wasn’t hetero. Ryan had a good chance of Colin saying ‘yes’ to their date. They’ve been on plenty of ‘dates’ though they weren’t labelled as dates. They go out together all the time, for coffee or even to the carnival, like they had before Ryan took Greg. 

“Actually… I think you should.”

Ryan turned to face him. “Really?”

“The worst that can happen is he says no and then it’s awkward for a few days, but then you’d get over it because you’re Ryan and he’s Colin.”

“He might think I’m an idiot.” he said shyly.

Greg grinned at him. “I’m sure he already does, Ry.”

 

It was quiet. Greg would say it was too quiet but he actually preferred this to his entire family being home. Sara was out with her boyfriend and she would most likely stay at his place; his dad was ‘out with the boys’; his mom was at a friend’s for tea. So he was alone until at least five if he wanted, and it was just before lunchtime. He didn’t want to be totally alone though. He didn’t call Jeff immediately but it didn’t take long for him to pick up the phone and dial his beloved. Jeff had already agreed to come over before he knew that he was home alone, but then he was just more eager. Now Greg was just waiting for him to arrive, which would take approximately twenty minutes since he hung up the phone.

Greg craned his head back to look at the clock. It was upside down, but it had been about ten minutes. He sighed and climbed onto the counter. For some reason, there was a rebellious feeling about sitting on the counter. It wasn’t a huge act of defiance because all he was doing was sitting on the counter, but he would get in trouble if his mom knew he was on it. He would never put his shoes on the counter. His mom was very overprotective of her kitchen because she spent a lot of time cooking and cleaning in it. She worked as a waitress/chef in a popular 50s diner uptown, so she definitely knew how to keep things clean. Sometimes if Greg felt particularly rebellious he would ditch school to get food from the diner. It wasn’t that cheap but it was worth it to see the look on his mom’s face when she realised he was ditching school.

Out of both his parents, Greg definitely liked his mom the best. He did get along with his dad sometimes but she was for sure the better person. When Greg was younger she always made soup for him when he was sick and she learned how to knit just to make a blanket for him, even though she couldn’t knit well at all and the blanket turned out awfully. It’s the thought that counts. He uses it when it gets cold in winter. She also made one for Sara, and she probably thinks Sara still has it. Greg knows that Sara gave it to her current boyfriend a year or two ago, way before they were even dating. It was a strange gift: a badly knitted blanket, but he liked it. That was probably what made him start liking Sara in that way.

Greg folded his body over his crossed legs and pressed his forehead into the counter just as someone knocked on the door. He shot up almost a bit too quickly and dashed to the door, opening it in one full swing. Then his vision faded in and out and his head throbbed.

“Oh my god I got up too quickly,” he blinked multiple times. “Hello, Jeff.”

Jeff laughed. “Hello.”

Greg blindly gestured for him to come inside and let go of the door. He rubbed his eyes and managed to see Jeff closing the door behind him. With a few more blinks he could see again. “Oh, kittens.”

“Kittens?” said Jeff “I… never heard someone say it like that before.”

Greg looked at him as if he was insane.

“Well, I’ve heard people say ‘kittens’ obviously,” he backtracked and smirked at Greg. “But not as a replacement for ‘fuck’.”

“It slipped out, don’t bully me.” Greg shook his head and went in for a hug, slipping his hands around Jeff’s torso inside his jacket and leaning his head on Jeff’s shoulder. He felt Jeff’s arms close around him tightly. “Welcome to my home.”

Jeff was wearing dark sweatpants and a really comfy jacket that Greg wanted to steal from him. He looked adorable, and it sent Greg’s heart all fluttery. Greg was still in his PJs: a random shirt and also sweatpants. It was cosy and he was home alone. Well, not anymore. Now it was cosy and the wrong choice if he wanted to hide a boner.

“Have I been here yet?” Jeff’s voice was close to Greg’s ear. “I don’t think I have.”

Greg moved his head so he was looking at Jeff. “You haven’t been inside. I’ll show you around.”

He started by gesturing around him, presenting the small foyer they were in. Beneath their feet was a rug atop wooden floors; next to them was a dresser and mirror with an array of knick-knacks that belonged to various members of the family. Under the dresser were many pairs of shoes. Jeff took his own shoes off and placed them neatly next to those that he knew was Greg’s. On the opposite wall was a hook set with a collection of hats that Greg’s dad never wore unless it was a particularly special occasion, and one coat. Jeff changed that by removing his jacket and hanging it up next to it. A foot away from the hooks was an archway into the living room.

“I rarely come out here, to be honest.” Greg pointed at one leather chair. “That’s where dad sits.”

“Like, all the time?” Jeff made as if he was going to sit in it.

“Sometimes during dinner.” Greg furrowed his brow in annoyance. 

They continued on into the kitchen, where Greg was before. He explained to Jeff that other than his own room, the kitchen was where he spent the most time. He couldn’t cook anything well and off the top of his head, but he liked watching his mom cook sometimes. She knew how to. The kitchen was pretty similar to Jeff’s, except it was more open. The dining room connected to it, in the middle a beautiful oakwood table. A flower vase stood in the middle atop a long, thin table cloth that striped down the middle. The flowers would get replaced once a week. Someone in the house cared for them, though Greg wasn’t aware of who. 

Then came the hall, which had embarrassing photos of Greg on the wall that he tried to rush Jeff past. He didn’t succeed.

“You were so cute, oh my god,” cooed Jeff. It was a photo of him and Sara. In the photo, he was grinning thinly whereas Sara was wide-mouthed and toothy.

“I know, what happened,” he responded flatly. Jeff turned to him, almost offended.

“What do you mean ‘what happened’? You got a thousand times cuter, don’t even try and deny it.” Jeff cupped Greg’s face in his hands and sneaked a kiss onto his nose. “Remember? You’re a teddy bear.”

Greg felt his face heat up.

Jeff kissed him for real then, softly. Greg almost forgot what he was doing he got so caught up in the kiss. When he managed to remember he mumbled into the kiss, “I haven’t even shown you my room!” and pulled away, catching sight of Jeff’s slightly annoyed, but excited expression.

He pushed open the slightly ajar door and let Jeff in first. “Ta-da!”

“I don’t know why, but I was expectin’ it to be messy.”

Greg prodded his arm. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Jeff giggled. He turned around in a circle and took in the entire room. Greg looked around. It was a little messy. But he wasn’t going to obsess over that. As long as nothing dirty was out, like laundry. He also looked around. 

_Good. Everything’s in the basket._ He breathed carefully. Part of him was nervous for Jeff to see his room, though he didn’t know why. It was Jeff, they’d been dating for a week and a half. Maybe it was just because he’d never been there before.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by seeing Jeff fall onto his bed. “This is _so_ comfy. Probably comfier than mine.”

“Oh, I highly doubt that.” Greg waddled over to him and looked down at him.

“Lying on top of you is the comfiest,” said Jeff.

“I have to disagree.”

“Oh yeah?” 

“Mmhmm.” Greg hummed. “Sitting on your lap in that beanbag of yours is the ultimate ‘comf’.”

Jeff sat up and scooted to the side of the bed, positioning his legs either side of Greg. “Okay, I guess I have to agree. You, curled up on me with your arms wrapped around my neck, delirious from a huge make-out session.”

As he talked he trailed his hands up Greg’s sides. Greg shivered and unconsciously licked his lips, his eyes locked with Jeff’s. 

“And me, holdin’ you like the teddy bear that you are,” Jeff said strongly. 

Greg bit his lip to stop himself from laughing but he failed anyway because Jeff laughed. “You really seem content on the idea of me being a teddy bear.”

“You’re just so… huggable.” he hugged Greg and pressed his face into Greg’s stomach. Greg ran his hands through Jeff’s hair time and time again, playing with it. Then his hands trailed lightly down the back of his neck, but then an idea came to mind. Jeff had flinched ever so slightly when Greg touched the back of his neck.

“Hey, Jeff?”

“Yes?”

“Are you ticklish?”

Jeff looked up slowly. “Don’t you fuckin’ dare.” 

He dared. He began tickling his boyfriend under his arms, grinning wildly at the laughing yelp Jeff made. He squirmed, trying to get Greg to stop. Greg was then yanked onto the bed as well and brought into the tickle fight. He was such a hypocrite; Greg hated being tickled. But he prodded Jeff’s sides and squirmed at the same time, trying to get away from Jeff. Jeff was probably going to end up winning because he was just a bit stronger than Greg. They were both laughing exhaustedly, in that way that you do when you get tickled. It was an uncontrollable reaction. Then, Greg thought Jeff was about to give up when he suddenly managed to get a grip on one of Greg’s wrists, effectively stopping him from tickling with that hand. 

“Oh no—” he laughed. Jeff pinned his arm down onto the bed beside them both, trying to catch his other hand. Greg tried wriggling his wrist out of Jeff’s grip but it was pretty damn tight. Suddenly, Jeff snatched his other wrist before pinning Greg down underneath him with his legs pressed into either side of his thighs. They looked at one another and laughed their final breaths out before calming themselves down. A few moments of silence went by.

It was going to happen sooner or later, and it may as well be sooner. They kissed, beginning the most-likely-two-hour-long make out. Their mouths moved together, building up passion and speed. Jeff was still holding Greg’s wrists, and his grip only tightened when Greg tried to move them. In a way, it was… hot?

They couldn’t really kiss for long since they were both already out of breath from the tickle fight. Jeff softly pulled away and licked his lips. 

“I’m trapped.” Greg tried to move his arms. Jeff sat back on his knees without letting go of Greg’s wrists.

“If I let go you might tickle me again.” 

Greg kept his pout on. “You don’t trust me.”

“Not at the moment,” Jeff snickered and loosened his grip just a little. Greg flexed his hands and lifted his head a bit to try and see how Jeff was sitting. If he moved back just a bit he would be sitting directly on… yeah. _We get it, Greg, you’re horny for him._

“If you let go of me I promise I won’t tickle you?”

“If you tickle me again I’ll leave.” Jeff teased. 

Greg’s jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t.”

“I’m kidding!” Jeff let go of Greg and placed his hands on Greg’s chest instead. “I wouldn’t leave.”

“Not even if I… do this?” Greg poked his side once. Jeff narrowed his eyes and did the same back. Greg let out a tiny yelp and he wriggled underneath Jeff. “No!”

Jeff continued to tickle him, an evil grin on his face. Greg started shaking with laughter again and he tucked his upper arms as close to his side as possible. He flailed his hands in an attempt to stop Jeff. “Ah! Okay, okay I won’t, I won’t do it again!”

“Promise?” Jeff quirked his eyebrow and held Greg’s sides, his hands unmoving now. Greg breathed deeply and nodded, a grin stuck on his face. Jeff let go of him and leaned back, his hands gently resting on Greg’s stomach. Greg closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands.

“I am… _out_ of breath,” he stressed. “I hate being tickled.”

“You should’ve thought about that when you tickled me first.”

“Oh, I did.”

“And yet you continued tickling me?” Jeff laughed a little. 

Greg uncovered his eyes. “Yep.”

“Wow.” Jeff rolled his eyes playfully. Then, unexpectedly, he slipped his hands into Greg’s shirt and up to his chest, his hands thankfully warm. Greg shivered a little at the touch anyway; they’d had their shirts off in front of each other, yet for some reason, this felt so intimate. He felt the back of his neck flush a bit. He moved his own hands so they met Jeff’s over the shirt and he looked up to catch his eye.

In a somehow smooth movement, Greg sat up and pulled his own shirt off, with Jeff’s hands still flat on his chest. With one hand Jeff grabbed the back of his own shirt and pulled it over his head. Then he quirked a single eyebrow and pushed Greg back down onto the bed authoritatively, putting pressure onto his chest. Greg watched in a daze as Jeff folded down and softly pressed kisses on his torso. Greg felt his hands move: one down to his hip and one up to his collarbone. 

_Oh my god_ —what did he do to deserve this? He just tickled Jeff, surely he deserved some kind of punishment. He pursed his lips to stop any embarrassing sounds he might end up making. Jeff continued to press open-mouthed kisses on his chest as well as his collarbones, as he made his way up Greg’s body. Greg had goosebumps all over his torso and arms from how softly Jeff was kissing him. One of Greg’s hands found its way into Jeff’s hair, gripping it to relieve some sort of pressure, while his other met Jeff’s at his hip. 

Jeff had done something last time that Greg was _really_ hoping he did this time without Greg having to ask because that would be embarrassing. It had been the basis for a lot of daydreams, admittedly. Jeff had trailed from the base of Greg’s neck right up to where his pulse point was and holy _fuck_ it felt great. It was a bit of a weird thing but it felt so good to Greg. Thinking about it made him want it so badly.

Jeff must’ve been a mind-reader, because he did _exactly_ that, and he pressed kisses just under Greg’s jawline. An involuntarily tragic noise ended up coming from Greg’s throat and his entire body tensed, slight anxiety bubbling in his stomach. But Jeff didn’t seem to notice, or if he did hear it he had chosen to ignore it. He finally kissed Greg’s cheek before firmly planting their lips together. A hand cupped Greg’s cheek, pulling him closer into the kiss. The sound Greg made was quickly gone from his own memory, and he snuck a nip at Jeff’s bottom lip. His hand slipped from where it was holding Jeff’s to around his back. Kissing Jeff made Greg feel a bit drunk. His brain was fuzzy and heart was racing.

Jeff swiped his tongue over Greg’s lip, before pulling away just so slightly. Before Greg could react Jeff kissed him hard one more time. If he was standing he would’ve surely fallen over. He could still hear his own heart thumping in his chest. He didn’t know how Jeff couldn’t hear it. Their bodies were slotted tightly together and if Greg looked at Jeff, it looked like he only had one eye since he was that close. 

“Wh—“ he started, but didn’t know where he was going so he stopped. 

Jeff bit his lip. “You’re adorable.”

“Stop! No!” Greg melted and tried to cover his already red face. “You’re too sweet to me, Jeffrey.”

“Because you deserve it, Gregory.” Jeff smiled an award-winning smile at Greg. “I can’t have been that amazing though.”

“Oh yeah?” Greg furrowed his brow. “Then explain why I… I fucking made a, a... noise.”

“Wait, you moaned?”

Greg blushed again. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it a moan—“

“—was it when I did this?”

Greg didn’t have time to prepare for Jeff leaning down and running his tongue up Greg’s neck so agonisingly slowly, stopping halfway to bite into his neck. It happened again, he made a noise. A pathetic, high pitched grunt the second Jeff’s teeth got hold of his skin. He couldn’t possibly blush any more. He shivered and arched his neck ever so slightly towards Jeff as he sucked a bruise into Greg’s pasty white neck. For a few seconds he said nothing, just revelled in the feeling. 

“God yes, you perfect, perfect boy.” Greg finally sighed, once Jeff pulled away. He still pressed kisses into Greg’s neck. 

Then Jeff kissed his throat lightly. “I’ll remember that.”

“Of course you will.”

 

It was raining today. More importantly, today was Greg’s birthday. He had finally turned eighteen! Jeff got him _The Thorn Birds_ by Colleen McCullough. Greg’d never heard of that book, nor was he expecting Jeff to get him anything. They’d only been together for just on two weeks and he only told Jeff it was his birthday last week. Funnily enough, Jeff’s birthday was also later this week. They were almost twins, which was kind of scary.

Everyone had gone to their first two lessons, but now it was recess. Instead of sitting where they normally would, they snuck off to the back building and sat in the library there. 

“Ryan, can you please tell me again?” Jeff knitted his eyebrows together. 

Ryan groaned. “I’ve explained it _four_ times, Jeff. How do you not get it?”

Jeff held out his hands and his mouth fell open. “How do you expect me to understand… what is this? Trigonometry?”

“It really isn’t that hard—” 

“—then how come you aren’t explaining it well enough!” he thrust the notebook in front of him towards Ryan. “The teachers don’t really care if I learn, I don’t know why I’m bothering, I’m never gonna be anything great anyway. Maths is dumb! We don’t need it!”

Ryan denied every spout of self-degradation that came out of Jeff’s mouth. Greg rolled his eyes as the two of them argued. Brad was quietly sitting next to Colin, munching on some stir-fry he’d bought from home, and Colin was staring off into space. A thought popped into Greg’s head.

“Hey, Brad,” Greg started. Brad looked up. 

“Yeah?”

“Why are you sitting with us?” Greg gestured around him.

“Don’t you have football practice?” Colin grabbed a water bottle and took a few sips.

Brad shook his head. “Well, one, it’s your birthday Greg. And two, they don’t do practice at recess.”

“What happened to your football buddies? You would usually sit with them anyway.” Greg tried to say ‘football buddies’ without sarcasm dripping from his voice but he couldn’t stop himself. It was a natural reaction to the football team.

“I… actually got kicked from the team.” he ran a hand through his hair. “My dad is gonna be pissed.”

“What? Why? When?” Colin raised his eyebrows. He glanced at Greg.

“Well… long story short it’s because…” Brad swallowed. “Because I’m bisexual.”

Colin looked back at Brad. There was an almost relieved look in his eyes that Greg couldn’t think of why. “You’re bisexual?”

“Dude,” Greg nodded. “Welcome to the gay side. Well, the kind of gay side.”

Brad laughed a little and took a bite of his stir-fry. “Thanks.”

“How long… how long have you known?” asked Colin. 

“Since middle school. I’ve never had a boyfriend though.” he shrugged.

“Can’t relate.” Greg threw up a ‘hang ten’ and then immediately questioned his actions. Colin raised a matching questioning eyebrow at him.

Brad kept talking. “I have kissed a guy though. But that’s what got me kicked out of the team.”

“Who did you kiss?”

“I’m not even sure,” he closed his now empty food container. “But he was pretty cute.”

Colin rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face. “How did they even find out you were kissing that guy?”

“Well, we were at a party. Drinking, you know.” Brad made a gesture to suggest drinking. “And he brought a drink over to me and started flirting. It was the first time a guy had shown interest in me, so of course, I was going to entertain it. We talked for a while until he ‘fell’ onto me, then we kissed and it was amazing, and we kept kissing in our little corner until I was suddenly being pulled back onto the floor.”

“What!” Greg blurted out. That caught the attention of Jeff and Ryan, and they stopped arguing over trigonometry. 

“Who pulled you backwards?” Colin said, concerned. Greg had a sneaking suspicion that it was Drew.

“Drew. He tugged the back of my shirt and threw me onto the floor, before chewing out the guy I was kissing.”

Greg made a vomiting action and rolled his eyes. He was right. Drew was the kind of scum who would do that.

“I mean, I jumped back up and tried defending the guy, but Drew shoved me and called me a faggot before doing the deed of kicking me from the team.” Brad tightened his mouth and furrowed his brow. “So my life is pretty much ruined.”

Greg looked at Brad sadly. “Don’t say that.”

“Come on. I found a guy who was interested in me and he left right after I stopped Drew from hurting him, and I got kicked from the football team, which was the only thing that my dad actually liked about me. Other people in our year are gonna know by tomorrow at the latest as well.” Brad muttered. “When my dad finds out I’m not on the team anymore he’s going to be so disappointed. I’ve been on it since freshman year, and in my last year of high school, I just suddenly manage to get myself dropped? He won’t be happy.”

“It’s not your fault though—“ Colin tried.

“—oh but it is.” Brad didn’t bother elaborating.

Greg frowned to himself. It was a pretty heavy thing, being dropped from a team. Greg hadn’t met Brad’s father, but he could tell that he was similar to his own. He was sure Brad was already thinking about it, but what else would happen if his dad knew he was bisexual? That is, if he didn’t already know.

“Does your dad know that you're bi?” asked Greg. 

Brad shook his head. “Nope.”

“Wow, lucky you.” Jeff droned sarcastically. “I bet he’d be thrilled if he found out!”

“Totally!” Brad said with an angry look on his face.

Then the bell rang, and they had to go to class. Greg groaned and rested his head on the table. Was there anything worse than having to go to school on your birthday? Especially a cool one like your eighteenth. He wasn’t having a party or anything either, he was just having dinner with his family. He would much rather stay at Jeff’s, which Jeff had suggested earlier.

Jeff shook him out of his daze by grabbing his shoulder. “Hey.”

Greg lifted his head. Everyone else had gone. Jeff had adjusted the way he was sitting so he was straddling the seat and facing Greg. He reached over and enclosed Greg in his arms, his chin resting on Greg’s shoulder. His nose was lightly touching his cheek.

“Yes, Jeffrey?”

“You know… You're the birthday boy so…” Jeff whispered and he kissed Greg’s cheek. “I can give you the honour of makin’ out with me. Plus, we can avoid class.”

Greg laughed. “That’s the best present.”

He turned his head so he could look Jeff in the eyes, stopping him from responding with a passionate kiss. Their lips locked together and Greg turned his whole body to Jeff, his hands grabbing each side of his face. He wrapped his legs around Jeff’s waist and hooked them together by the ankles. Jeff’s lips were soft and kinda delicious, and Greg pulled away for a moment.

“Are you wearing chapstick?”

Jeff rolled his eyes and didn’t answer. Instead, he pressed their lips together again and ran a soft hand through Greg’s hair and down the nape of his neck. Whatever. Greg didn’t mind that Jeff was wearing chapstick. If he was wearing lipstick, however, suddenly Greg wouldn’t be a virgin anymore. He would also have lipstick kisses on his face and neck, but that really didn’t matter. Now that image was in his brain. _Damn._

This was one of the best birthdays he'd ever had.

  



	8. Bite Me? In The Neck?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg receives a threat from someone familiar to him, then does something to try and one-up Ryan. Greg and Sara then have some bonding time.

  
Bullying was a strange concept. Why would you pick on another person? Admittedly, Greg had done it once or twice in his life but it was never relentless harassment focused on one person. He didn’t think it was possible to harbour so much hate for one person, but hey, that was Drew for ya. 

In elementary school Drew was much more innocent. Everyone knew that he had dreams to join the military when he grew up. Most people knew who he was because he made himself known at every possible moment, a desperate need to be liked. Even now he was still like that, but it was more ‘worship me’ than ‘like me’. The captain of the football team, a known bully, and a callout in class. 

Then middle school came around and he started changing. Not just physically, but mentally. His need for attention and for everyone to fall below him was starting to grow. He started picking on certain people. Ones who were too scrawny, too nerdy, too slutty, too big, too bitchy, too effeminate. Only a few other people were safe from his average insults. They were textbook insults, but words can hurt. Especially if you were a skinny, five foot, glasses-wearing, ‘sissy’ who had no friends.

Part of Greg thought that Drew has a weird obsession with Greg. Ryan used to think that too, but now he thinks that a lot of the football team had an obsession and it wasn’t just Drew. Even though Greg was taller than half of them. Sure, he was pretty damn skinny and could easily be snapped in half be even the weakest member of the team but some of them, including Drew, had to tilt their heads upwards. 

All of this was running through Greg’s mind as he spaced out in class. History was the only class he had with Drew but he only had it twice a week. Greg hadn’t realised that he spaced out in Drew’s general direction, which was a few rows in front of him. Drew glanced around and caught Greg’s eye, which startled him and he looked away.

“Quit staring.” he sneered. The class was loud enough that Greg didn’t have to worry about the teacher calling on them. And he tried so hard to stop the scowl on his face but Drew caught it. He narrowed his eyes at Greg.

When class ended Greg tried to duck out of the classroom as quickly as he could so he could avoid Drew and his friend. It had been a week since Drew had personally picked on him, and he wasn’t about to just let it happen again. Just when he thought he was safe he was clipped on the back of the head.

“Ow!” he hissed and stopped walking.

“Hey, poops!” 

Greg closed his eyes in annoyance for a second or two. That was the least creative nickname ever. “What?”

Drew appeared in front of him and folded his arms. “What’s with the staring?”

“You’re incredibly sensitive, you know that?”

Drew hardened his gaze and Greg shrunk a little. He felt like he was smaller than Drew right now, which was incredibly weird.

“I don’t like bein’ stared at, by losers like you.” he pressed, stepping forward once and back Greg to the wall. “So answer me, poops. What’s with the bloody staring?”

Greg let out an almost shaky breath. “I zoned out, Jesus Christ.”

Drew kept his gaze hard and he looked Greg up and down. Greg felt like he was being strip-searched and it was horrifying. The crowd in the hallway was thinning and if they stayed here any longer then they would both be late for class. Suddenly, Drew’s eyes stopped at Greg’s neck.

“Are those hickeys?” he frowned in almost disgust, it seemed. 

Greg covered his neck immediately with his hand. “No? I ran into the door. Multiple times.”

“You’re disgusting. Who did you even find that was willing to put that shit on your neck?” Drew was giving him a dirty look.

Greg bit his lip and avoided Drew’s look. It was gay to say it was Jeff, wasn’t it? He should’ve worn a scarf or something that would cover up the hickeys. 

“I just asked you a question, poops.” Drew stepped even closer. Greg could feel his hot breath on his skin. It made him shiver and he wanted to tuck his head into his shoulders he was that uncomfortable.

“Y-you don’t know them,” he whispered, desperate for Drew to leave now.

“I know everybody in this school.” He growled back.

Greg’s heart was literally in his throat. Well, not _literally_ , but it fucking felt like it.

Drew changed the subject back to the staring. “You never answered my question. What’s with the fucking staring?”

“I did answer?” Greg questioned him, then regretted it. Drew backed him completely up to the wall, positioning a hand next to his head. Greg felt trapped. There was no possible way he could duck out of this unless he kicked Drew in the balls, which he was not about to do.

“It wasn’t an acceptable answer, now was it?” Drew said sourly. “Are you a fag or something?”

Greg _almost_ lost his balance and his heart almost stopped.

“No.” he answered a bit too quickly for his liking. _FUCK._

“You sure?” Greg closed his eyes and he could only hear Drew’s low voice. “No sane girl would you attractive, so you switch to boys. Sound about right?”

Greg shook his head. He wanted to get out of here as fast as fucking possible. “No.”

“Then why were you fucking staring at me?”

Greg swallowed dryly. “I already told you. I zoned out.”

Drew stepped back just a little bit, not overall happy with Greg’s answer but possibly tired of trying to force it out of him. Greg cautiously tried stepping out and away from him, to which Drew jumped at him to try and scare him. And _boy_ howdy it worked. Greg jerked away a little.

“I’ll fucking break your neck if you ever stare at me again, you hear me?” Drew threatened.

Greg nodded quickly and walked away from him while looking at him just in case he came up behind Greg. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up as if it were a rock concert. 

When Greg was able to turn a corner he finally breathed out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. That was… a strange yet _extremely_ frightening experience. He really never liked Drew because he always got so close and personal. There was no need for anyone except Jeff to breath on his neck. It was creepy and it made him want to cut his own head off just to get rid of the nasty feeling. 

He was late to art but thankfully no one noticed as they were all busy talking to one another. The teacher was talking to a student so Greg snuck past her and to the other room. Jeff was sitting cross-legged on the end of his table, focused very hard on his painting. His lip was caught between his teeth and his brow furrowed in concentration. He only broke out of his trance when Greg perched himself on his stool, folded his hands in his lap and leaned forward.

Jeff somehow dropped the paintbrush in his hand. “Oh, hey Greg. What’s up?”

Jeff looked around the table to see which way would be the easiest to pick up the paintbrush, so Greg just hopped off the stool and plucked it from the ground. 

“Drew cornered me after history.” Greg handed the paintbrush to Jeff. “And breathed on my neck.”

“Ew,” Jeff screwed up his face. “That’s gross of him.”

“He hasn’t bothered me for like a week, which is a new record.” Greg continued, getting back on the stool. Should he tell Jeff that Drew accused him of being gay? It was a pretty serious thing. He would have to be less ‘obvious’ about it.

“But he chose now?” Jeff shuffled around on the table so he was fully facing Greg. 

“Yeah.” 

“Why was he cornerin’ you in the first place? Did you look at him wrong or?” 

“That’s exactly what I did, Jeff.” Greg leaned his elbows onto his knees. “And he pointed out my hickeys. Thanks for that.”

“Sorry.” Jeff didn’t sound entirely sorry, but that was okay. Greg wasn’t sorry about his hickey placement either.

“He wanted to know who gave them to me as if he was a jealous girl.”

“Who did you say?”

Greg raised an eyebrow. “No one. I said he didn’t know them.”

“I mean, technically you’re correct because he doesn’t know me.” 

Greg shrugged. Drew had only seen Jeff and hadn’t talked to him, or at least that’s what Greg knew. Also, Jeff was saying that. “Then yeah. I didn’t lie.”

Greg decided against telling Jeff that Drew accused him of being gay. It would just scare Jeff, and he didn’t want to do that. Plus, Drew didn’t know for sure. It was a hot thing these days to call people gay or fag as an insult, no matter if they were actually gay or not. Greg should just forget about what Drew said. It might not be easy to forget about someone threatening to break your neck, but Greg has done it before. Drew had more bark than bite sometimes.

“It sucks that he saw them though. I should’ve been more careful with my placement.”

Greg did a double take. “Was—was that a pun?”

“What?” Jeff cocked his head to the side like an adorable dog. _Ohmygodthat’ssocute._

“You said suck.” Greg pointed out. “And we’re talking about my… hickeys.”

Jeff still stared at him confused, until he suddenly groaned out, “Oh. I get you.”

“How did you not realise the pun?” Greg raised his eyebrows and a grin started forming on his face. “It was pretty obvious.”

“I’m not a pun master,” Jeff said. “That’s Colin’s job, remember?”

Greg nodded. “True. He’s pretty good at that.”

Jeff looked around the room once before leaning over and sneaking a kiss onto Greg’s cheek. Greg felt his cheeks redden a little and he also looked around the room. If someone else was in here right now they’d be screwed. Dead. Deceased. But thankfully they were alone, so Greg kissed Jeff back, but on the lips.

It was only a quick peck but Jeff still looked overemotional from it. “I wish we could kiss at school without it bein’ weird.”

Greg nodded distractedly, still staring at Jeff’s lips. He did agree with Jeff, but Drew’s threat was back fresh on his mind. He didn’t want a broken neck. “Yeah. Oh well.”

“Oh well,” Jeff repeated optimistically (but also sarcastically) and turned back to his painting to destroy the illusion that they might have been kissing or not doing their work. Greg also turned away but he held a hand over his mouth to hide the stupid grin that appeared on his face. That happened whenever Jeff did something cute, so it should’ve been all the time since Jeff was an entire cutie. And Greg got to date him.

Finally, Drew’s harassment long gone from Greg’s mind, he made it through art and into recess. For once, Wayne was sitting with them. He rarely sat with Greg and his friends, mostly because he had his own friends. From what Greg knew, their names were Jonathan and Monty, but he could be wrong. Greg loved Wayne, he was always so over-the-top about everything. He also liked similar music to Greg.

Jeff was sitting next to Greg with no space between the two of them, but about a foot between him and Brad. To strangers, it probably looked like Jeff had a vendetta against Brad, but in reality, he was just so gay for Greg. At least, Greg hoped he was. He doubted Jeff would do that though. 

Greg reached into his bag and pulled out a bag of peanuts, opened it and let it sit on the table for both him and Jeff to eat out of. Jeff had told him that he never really ate peanuts before he started dating Greg. Greg shovelled his hand in and grabbed a bunch of peanuts before eating them one by one out of his hand. Jeff did the same, mimicking Greg with a dumb smile on his face. Greg laughed a little.

“Can I have some?” Brad said from around Jeff. 

“No,” Jeff answered quickly. Greg smacked his arm. 

“Hey,” he scoffed sarcastically. “Sure.”

He chucked the bag towards Brad and he grabbed some before throwing it back to Greg. Greg repositioned it between himself and Jeff and leaned slightly against Jeff. Jeff then turned to Wayne.

“How are you, Wayne?” said Jeff.

“Ryan have you thought about doing… y’know?” Greg gestured quietly between the two of them. He was talking about the hickey thing, of course. He knew Ryan wouldn’t end up doing it, but he wanted to stir the pot a little.

“I’m, you know I’m feeling pretty good today, Jeff.” Wayne nodded. “You?”

“No,” Ryan said definitively. He glanced to his side to where Colin was sitting, somehow unaware of the conversation between Ryan and Greg. “Have you thought about doing it?”

Greg pouted and leaned on his hand. “I’ll do it, I’m not scared.”

Ryan narrowed his eyes. “Then do it. That still won’t make _me_ do it.”

Jeff shrugged in response to Wayne. “Could be better.”

Greg hung his arm around Jeff’s shoulders and grabbed his face, turning it towards him. Their noses were almost touching, and Greg’s fingers delicately held Jeff’s jaw. His face blushed just a little bit when he thought about what he was about to say. _And all to one-up Ryan…_

“Bite me?” he purred, pulling what he hoped would be puppy dog eyes.

Jeff’s eyes widened and his cheeks flushed a nice scarlet. “Wh-what?”

“Bite me? In the neck?” he repeated. In the corner of his eye, he saw Ryan watching carefully. Jeff’s eyes darted around.

“We—we’re at school though? And _everyone_ is watching?”

“So?” Greg whispered. He cupped Jeff’s jaw. “They can always leave.”

“When you said your day ‘could be better’, what else were you expecting to happen?” Brad piped up, an amused look on his face. Greg smiled a little.

Jeff shrugged, then the corner of his lip curled up and kissed Greg, before planting the smallest of small kisses down to his neck, where he sunk his teeth into Greg’s neck. It took all of Greg’s willpower to stay completely calm because, _hello_ , his boyfriend was biting his neck? _Jesus Christ it felt good. This probably was a bad idea._

Ryan burst out laughing, either from fear or amusement Greg couldn’t tell. Greg caught his eye and smirked at him, his eyebrow quirking up suggestively. Wayne looked both uncomfortable and highly amused, Colin’s brow was furrowed in thought, and Brad was watching Jeff curiously.

“Your turn.” he mouthed to Ryan once he stopped laughing. Jeff licked a small circle around the new love-bite he’d made and kissed quick little kisses from the hickey to Greg’s lips. Then he sat back up but his fingers were intertwined with Greg’s. 

Ryan shook his head. “No.”

“Your loss.” Greg rolled his eyes and leaned just a little bit towards Jeff, crossing one leg over the other. 

Sure it was Ryan’s loss and Greg’s gain, but it probably wasn’t the greatest way to prove a point. They still had at least three hours left of school and he’d gone and scored himself a boner. He also had another hickey, and this one definitely wasn’t hidden. Sure it was probably small and light, but it was going to do a great job of letting people know Greg was a slut. Jeff glanced down and Greg knew he was looking. Even though Jeff was looking straight ahead Greg could see the smug look on his face. 

“That was…” Brad started but couldn’t find anything to say. He unconsciously touched his own neck. Ryan looked at Colin, and he looked as if he was about to say something but he never did.

“Is your day better now?” Wayne said between laughs.

“Fuck yeah.” Jeff held up an ‘ok’ sign with his hand. Greg touched his neck tentatively, a small smile on his face.

 

Greg felt a shiver run up his spine as forks and knives scraped on the plates around him. He loved food as much as the next guy, but when ceramics and metal came together and made a horrifying high-pitched shrieking noise, it kind of ruined the experience for five seconds at a time. His dad was next to him, seemingly unbothered by the noise, the same with Sara and his mom.

“So, how was yer day Gregory?” his mom asked. “Tell me what happened.”

“Uhh…” he blanked. “I read a book.”

“What book did ya read?”

“ _The Shining_.”

“Is it any good?” His dad said through a mouthful of food. 

“I think so.” Greg shrugged. “It was recommended to me by a friend.”

Sara—thankfully—stayed silent but Greg caught the small, knowing smile on her face. 

“I should read it sometime,” Mom said. Greg nodded and continued eating. His mom turned to Sara and instead asked her how her day was. If Greg had said anything other than that he read a book, the conversation would’ve been much longer. He couldn’t say anything other than he read a book anyway, because everything else was _gay_. Neither of his parents knew and Greg was determined to not let them know. If they knew, he would either be kicked out of the house or tormented beyond reality. He most likely wouldn’t be allowed to go to family events simply because, within a week of his parents finding out, the whole family would probably know. Sometimes he thought that maybe his parents wouldn’t care, and they’d accept him. But that was highly unlikely when your father was the epitome of fragile masculinity and was distinctly against the idea of two men kissing.

He was brought back to reality by Sara kicking him under the table. With a dead look on his face he looked up at her and she nodded just slightly to their dad.

“—only October, but we should think of where we’re going for Christmas.” he had finished dinner already and he was leaning his elbows on the table. If Greg’s grandmother—his dad’s mother—was here she would berate him to the end of time about that. Greg only knew that because he was consistently struck down by her.

“I have ma family out in Mississippi.” his mom replied. “They’re always happy to have us.”

“God no, I despise your mother.” Dad laughed as if it was a joke. Mom narrowed her eyes just a bit she kept herself tall.

“So where were you thinkin’?” she said through slightly clenched teeth.

“Why don’t you like gran?” Sara suddenly asked. “She’s so sweet and caring.”

Dad breathed out his nose. “Too sweet for me.”

“Yeah, cause you’re a sour person,” Greg said, avoiding his eye. But his dad laughed.

“That’s right.”

“Well, _I_ love her,” Sara reassured their mom and she smiled gratefully at her. “Though, she didn’t teach you how to sew.”

Greg smiled a little but then decided to stop paying attention. So they were going somewhere for Christmas. They didn’t do that every year, but when they did it always ended up being his cousins’ house in the midwest. He got along with his cousins, and they were always fun to be around. His favourite cousin, Timmy, once took him to a concert when he was only twelve. It was a wild time. Timmy was around Sara’s age, which was a few years older than Greg. He’d dropped out of college because he didn’t want to do it anymore, which Greg found funny.

For the past few years, Sara hadn’t joined them on the journey. She always had something come up, which Greg suspected was on purpose. She was twenty-one, and yet she still lived at home. Greg didn’t know if she was looking to move out soon or not. Maybe, if she moved out soon, then Greg could live with her for a bit. After all, he was eighteen now. He didn’t have to live at home if he didn’t want to. That idea made the blood pump around his body but he couldn’t bounce around in excitement because he was at dinner.

When dinner was finished and they were all sitting in the living room for ‘family time’, his leg was uncontrollably bouncing. His parents were drinking wine and on one couch, talking. He and Sara were on the other talking about something else much more important.

“Really? _The Shining_?”

Greg rolled his eyes. “Yes, you got a problem with that?”

“No.” She answered a bit too quickly. “Well, yes. Why?”

“Jeff told me to read it on the day we ‘officially’ met, of course I’m gonna fucking read it,” he said lowly. 

Sara sighed. “Of course he did. You’re hopeless.”

“So?” Greg grinned. “He’s gorgeous.”

“You ever gonna tell mom or dad?” Sara glanced over at their parents. They were on their second glass of wine now.

Greg scoffed. “God no. Do you want me to get killed?”

Sara frowned slightly and rested her hand on his leg. “Fair.”

They sat in silence for a while, their parent’s laughter and the clink of their wine glasses filling the silence. They didn’t really need to be out in the living room, but it was ‘family time’ and that meant they had to be there. It only happened once a week if they were lucky (or unlucky). Sometimes they would play a board game or cards. Tonight it was just wine for the parents, and then nothing for the kids. This way was more ideal for everyone. 

Sara leaned close to Greg. “You know how they were talking about going to our cousin’s for Christmas?”

“I stopped paying attention _very_ quickly.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to go.”

“What?” he squinted his eyes. Then it registered in his brain. “Wait, I don’t?”

“You’re eighteen now, you can ditch them if you want.”

Greg thought about it. Sara stopped going, so maybe it was okay if he stopped going. He’d have to talk to his parents about it though and that thought terrified him beyond all measure. Christmas wasn’t for a long time anyway, as his dad said earlier it was only the beginning of October. He had plenty of time to psyche himself up for that conversation.

“Does that mean I would just stay here with you?” he asked.

Sara shrugged with a sly smile on her face. “Or you could stay with, oh I don’t know… Jeff?”

_WHOOMP_. His heart was out of his chest. Christmas with Jeff? That would be _awesome_. He and Jeff could decorate the tree, and wrap presents for each other, and kiss under the mistletoe. They could sing along to Christmas carols and cuddle for warmth. All the possibilities were running through Greg’s mind and he suddenly wanted it to be Christmas now just so he could do those things with him. 

“Oh my god, I can’t go to the midwest,” Greg muttered. “I want to kiss him under the mistletoe.”

“I want to _see_ that.” Sara pursed her lips. Greg glanced at her confusedly but didn’t ask anything of it. 

Suddenly, their mom let out a high pitched yelp of laughter. “Oh ma goodness, Steve! The kids are jus’ ova there!”

“Then howsabout we go to our room?”

Both Greg and Sara’s faces contorted into ones of disgust. “That’s fucking gross.”

Dad turned to them. “Language.”

“Okay then. We’re leaving.” Sara got up and started walking away. Greg followed her after a second of sitting awkwardly. He followed Sara to her room, where he sat on her bed and leaned against the wall. She flicked on the light and closed the door behind her. 

Sara sat next to him. Her eyes were still on Greg’s nails. “Hey, want me to paint your nails?”

“It’s like you _want_ me to die.”

“Oh please. No one will notice. Especially if you wear gloves.” She got up again and walked over to her dresser, pulling open a drawer and grabbing a handful of nail polish bottles.

“I’m not wearing gloves in October,” he rolled his eyes. “Plus, they don’t go with anything I own.”

“I can see why people _think_ you’re gay without even knowing you.”

“Well, I don’t really make a case for it,” he said. “I don’t act very strong and manly.”

“You don’t even look strong and manly, for one.” She held up a colour. “How about this one?”

Greg squinted at it. “Light blue? In October?”

Sara rolled her eyes. “Okay, damn. This?”

Greg hummed and then clapped his hands. “Orange might work. Ooh, and black. For Halloween!”

“I like your thinking, captain.” Sara winked and dropped the orange and black on the bed before returning the rest of the colours to her dresser. Greg watched as she walked back and sat cross-legged opposite him on the bed, shaking the orange bottle. With one hand she grabbed Greg’s hand and looked closer at it before making a face.

“First I’m going to clean your nails up.”

Greg rolled his eyes. “Rude.”

“Don’t complain, your nails look like shit, okay?” she snapped and reached to her bedside table where she grabbed what looked like a popsicle stick. Greg decided it would be wise to be quiet as Sara began ‘buffing his nails’, as she called it. He’d never had this done to him. He rested on one elbow and watched her.

“How often do you do this?”

“Once a week, usually.”

“Why?”

Sara glanced up at him. “I like making my nails look cool.”

When she finished his left hand he flexed it away from him and admired it. Admittedly, his nails did look pretty cool already and they didn’t even have any colour on them yet. Sara continued to buff his other hand and he stared at his hand until she had finished. 

“You’re gonna have to keep your hands completely still, you got me?” Sara told him. Greg nodded.

“Roger.”

“In the meantime,” she popped open the orange bottle and wiggled her eyebrows. “How's Jeff?” 

Greg immediately smiled. “Oh boy…”

“Nice hickeys, by the way.”

“Hickeys really aren’t as subtle as you’d think.” Greg said thoughtfully. “Anyway, Jeff is good. It’s his birthday tomorrow.”

“Ooh, really?” 

“Yep. We’re almost twins.”

“Exactly my thoughts.” Sara nodded. She painted one stroke of orange onto his thumbnail. “You guys done it yet?”

Greg almost spontaneously combusted. “If you want me to keep my hands still, you can’t ask me that. Also, no, is the answer to that question.”

Sara giggled. “Fine. And also, fair. How long have you been together?”

“Like two weeks. I’m not that slutty, Sara.” 

“Oh boy, I am. I still haven’t met Jeff by the way.”

Greg grinned. “He came over on the weekend, too bad you weren’t there.”

Sara squinted at him and blew angrily at his nails. Greg looked down. His thumb, middle finger and pinky on his left hand were all painted orange now. He kept his fingers apart from one another and let it hang dramatically in mid-air as Sara began painting his pointer and ring finger on his right hand orange.

“What did y’all do?” she smirked knowingly. Greg also smirked.

“Well, I don’t kiss and tell but…”

“The hickeys on your neck explain everything, so you don’t have to.” Sara giggled. Greg laughed a little and nodded. Since Sara had fewer fingers to paint on his right hand, she finished it a lot quicker than the left. He held his hands out in front of him and watched as she shook the black bottle before popping it open.

“I hope Jeff likes my nails,” Greg said absentmindedly.

Sara looked at him like he was insane. “Of course he’s going to like your nails. He sounds like a dream.”

“You don’t know anything about him.” Greg raised his eyebrow. Sara grabbed his left hand and began painting.

“I know he’s going to like your nails.” She retorted. “Tell me about him, then.”

Greg really then couldn’t stop his smile as he began telling Sara about Jeff. How he always wanted to hold Greg’s hand whenever they were alone together, and how he fell asleep reading that one time when Greg was at his house. He was always sneaking little kisses onto Greg’s cheeks, and one time in maths he kept throwing little notes at Greg with cute drawings on them. Sure, they’d only been together for two weeks, but Jeff was already making Greg fall head over heels for him. He told Sara all the little details about him, his hair, his eyes, how soft his hands were, and his knack for knowing things were going to happen.

Sara nodded. “Wow. He does sound like a dream.”

“I know.” Greg sighed. “But only my dream. He’s not for you.”

“How tall is he?”

“He’s six foot four.”

“Come on, there’s enough to share, isn’t there?” Sara pouted. “Like four inches, at least.”

Greg frowned. “Every inch is for _me_.”

“Yeah it is,” Sara smirked.

Greg almost slapped her.  



	9. If You're Gonna Laugh, Just Commit To It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Jeff's birthday, and Greg gives him something special. Brad and Greg then get into trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These two 'scenes' are a week apart, btw. I have the entire story so far set out on a calendar I made on photoshop lmao. I even searched up the calendars for 1977 and 1978 so I could be mildly accurate.
> 
> coming back to this I feel like I should put a content warning for violence, so be careful for that.

Greg didn’t really think this through. But then again, when did he ever think things through?

And really, it was just a cake. Greg was a terrible cook so he went to go buy one. For Jeff’s birthday. But almost none of the stores were open before nine am. Greg was starting to get frustrated. Jeff got him something, it would just be impolite to not give him anything in return. So Greg had a gift in his bag that he had made last night, after struggling to think of something he could buy. He was on a time crunch, especially since Jeff’s birthday was _today_. Greg kept glancing at his watch. It was almost eight-fifteen. He had to be at school by eight-forty-five. 

As he stalked through the streets, looking for a cake shop, he almost burst into tears in frustration. He just wanted to give his boyfriend something nice for his birthday, that’s all he wanted. He couldn’t go home and make a cake now, he would be late to school if he did.

But then, as if by a pure miracle, he spotted one. A store that was open. He ran to it full speed and pushed the door open, the bell ringing out through the tiny shop. The owner glanced up and she raised an eyebrow at Greg. Trying to catch his breath he rushed to the counter.

“Hey, I’m gonna need a birthday cake,” he said, trying to ignore how fast his heart was racing. ”It’s my boy… friend’s birthday today. A friend who is a boy. Boy _friend_.”

“Take a look.” The lady gestured vaguely to the array of cakes presented in the glass display, having no reaction to Greg’s slip-up about boyfriends. “They all birthday cakes if ya think of it that way.”

He looked at them all. They all looked good. But he only had twenty dollars that he stole out of his mom’s purse, so he couldn’t choose the most amazing cake. But there was one that Greg knew Jeff would love. It was a small chocolate cake. Perfect. And it was only ten dollars. Greg hesitated, but then he asked, “could you put a heart on this quickly?”

She looked at him lazily, one hand on her hip. “For ya boyfriend?”

Greg flushed and grabbed the money, thrusting it at her. “Please…”

She took the money from him and pulled the cake out of the display. She put it on a counter behind her and grabbed a red frosting bag that was hanging on a hook. Greg was immediately jealous of her skill in decorating. There was no way he’d be able to make a cake this good. So he was glad that he decided to come out and buy one. He jumped when she slid a box across the counter to him along with a ten dollar note before she grunted a ‘farewell’.

How was he going to get to school? He _really_ didn’t think this through.

At school, Jeff hugged Greg eagerly when he saw him. His smile was wide and genuine, as always. Greg loved his smile, it made Greg smile just _thinking_ about Jeff’s smile. Greg also loved how his eyes scrunched up and when Jeff laughed really hard, he threw his head back or had to hold onto someone close to him (it was usually Greg). 

Greg had managed to find a payphone and he had shakily inserted a few quarters in. He knew Ryan wouldn’t have left home yet, after all, it was only eight-thirty. So Ryan had come out and driven Greg to school, and he also harboured the cake for him. Ryan had somehow convinced a teacher to let him store it in the teacher’s lounge and had also threatened that if anyone touched the cake they would be dead. Greg didn’t know how he could do that without getting in trouble.

“Happy birthday Jeff! So… what’s new pussycat? Anything interesting in the life of Jeffrey?” Greg laughed as they walked up the stairs to homeroom. Jeff seemed excited about something. Greg had his gift for Jeff in his bag but he figured he’d wait until Jeff was done with his news.

“Bill gave me his car for my birthday!” Jeff almost exploded. “I am _still_ shocked!”

“What!” Greg burst out excitedly. “That’s awesome!”

“I know! I don’t know what came over him to give it to me, but I’m glad he did.” Jeff clapped his hands excitedly. “Now I can take you anywhere without a car curfew.”

Greg beamed and playfully punched Jeff in the shoulder. “Hell yeah, dude. Did you drive it here this morning?”

“Of course I did. It’s my car now.” Jeff was still giddy.

“You can take me somewhere after school. After all, it’s your birthday.” Greg sidled up next to him and gazed up into his gorgeous brown eyes. “I’m also coming to yours this afternoon.

Jeff grinned. “Awesome.”

A thought then struck Greg’s mind. “Oh! Do you like my nails? Sara painted them last night.”

He held up his hands and showed off his fingers to Jeff. His nails were painted in an orange and black pattern like he had asked Sara to do. Jeff grabbed his left hand and examined it closer, intrigue on his face.

“ _Damn_ ,” was all he could say at first, then, “This makes you look… _hot_.”

“Do they now?” Greg wiggled his fingers and admired his nails.

“Hell yeah.” Jeff breathed. “I would kiss you right now if we weren’t at school.”

“Ooh, I can’t wait until we’re at your house.”

Jeff sighed. “Me neither.”

They both walked into their empty homeroom, Jeff still lightly holding Greg’s fingers, neither of them being surprised that the door was already unlocked. Greg manoeuvred into his seat and immediately started rummaging through his bag.

“I got you a present,” he said a little sheepishly. “It isn’t much.”

He handed Jeff a card and three homemade bookmarks. Greg watched Jeff’s reaction as he worked out what it was in his hands. When he realised, his mouth curled into an excited grin. It made Greg’s heart flutter.

“These are so cute! I love them!” he looked at Greg. “Did you make these?”

“Yeah.” Greg felt so loved and appreciated right now. “I made them.”

“I love them a lot.” he side-hugged Greg. “Thank you.”

Greg made the bookmarks after Sara had painted his nails last night. It took him a while because he wanted to make them extra good for Jeff. One had a park on it that was supposed to resemble the park where they went for their first date, another had a poorly—Greg was still proud of it—drawn unicorn and the last had a bunch of flowers. Greg didn’t know which flowers, he probably made them up. But, still, he had tried really hard on all of them and was extremely glad that Jeff liked them so much. On the back of each of them he had written small messages that each said ‘happy birthday, I love you.’

Jeff opened the card and when he realised it was also homemade he looked at Greg lovingly. “Aww, oh my god—the little heart.”

“Happy birthday,” Greg whispered. “They weren’t much but I tried really hard.”

“They’re really cute! And any gift from you is a gift worth having.” Jeff leaned over and kissed his forehead. “And I love you too.”

He could wake up tomorrow in front of the pearly gates and it wouldn’t have been as amazing as hearing those words from Jeff’s mouth. He didn’t think it’d be in his homeroom where they first said it to each other, but he didn’t care. He had hesitated at first when he wrote it on the back of the bookmarks but it didn’t take long for him to decide on putting them on there. He loved Jeff, it was plain to see. Sure, they’d been together for just two weeks but that was enough to fall for someone, and Greg was the happiest he’d been in his high school life. It was especially easy to fall for someone like Jeff, who was just so damn enchanting. Of course, falling for his looks was the easy part, but it was just as easy to fall in love with _him_.

Suddenly the door was pushed open and their homeroom teacher came in.

“What on Earth are you two doing here so early?”

Greg and Jeff shared a look, then Greg leaned onto the table. “We were… making out.”

“Sure.” Mr Anderson didn’t look convinced at all. 

Jeff was looking at Greg like he was insane but he played along. “If you hadn’ta walked in we might've been.”

“Really? At school? That’s daring of you.”

“Well, you know I’m a daring guy, Mr A.” 

“Are you?” Mr Anderson quipped. Greg snorted and shrugged, giving up.

Eventually, more students began to trickle in, some arriving after the bell. Some of them had started wearing scarves and beanies, despite the cold not really hitting yet. By midday, they would be stuffed in lockers or bags since it would’ve warmed up by then. Greg was only wearing a hoodie that hopefully covered his hickeys. They were starting to go away since it had been a while now since he got them, but the one that Jeff planted on him the other day at school was still a little fresh. 

During homeroom, Jeff got his book from his bag, removed the old bookmark and tucked the one with the unicorn into its place. The little action made Greg feel warm and tingly. Jeff put the other two bookmarks and the card back in his bag, along with the book. He and Greg both stared at the old bookmark on the table.

“This is useless now,” Jeff whispered, flipping it over.

“I’ll take it.” Greg snatched it and dropped it into his bag. He grinned at Jeff.

“Alright.” Jeff giggled.

Greg had English with Ryan and Wayne first so he had to say goodbye to Jeff once the bell rang. As he walked to English he heard someone coming up behind him. He didn’t have time to brace himself for it, so his heart probably skipped a beat when someone clapped him on the back. A tiny wheeze escaped his throat.

“Hey Greg,” he heard Chip say cheerfully.

“Hey…” he wheezed. “What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much.” He walked along with Greg. “How’ve you been?”

Before Greg could answer Chip looked down and caught sight of Greg’s nails. “Are… your nails painted?”

Greg felt his blood run cold. “Uh… yeah.”

“What are you, a girl?” Chip said teasingly, intending it to be a joke, but it wasn’t even remotely funny. Greg laughed anyway.

“Well, I do like shopping,” he said quietly so only Chip could hear. “Enough about me though. How are you?”

“Actually now that I think about it, it’s been pretty great. We actually just got a new guy on the football team yesterday, and he’s kinda good. Great player.”

“Already?”

Chip furrowed his eyebrows and laughed a little. “What do you mean ‘already?’”

“Well, your beloved team captain kicked dear Bradley off, didn’t he? That was what, less than a week ago?” Greg reminded him. “Our friend, Brad? Are you not even a little bit annoyed about that?”

Chip shoved his hands in his pockets. “Uh… I didn’t really get a say in it.”

“Um… Why’d he get booted anyway?” Greg already knew why, but he was wondering if Chip knew and if he agreed with the reasoning behind it. Greg’s brain was already making connections and stringing one thought along another. Chip knew he was with Jeff. If he agreed with Drew’s reason of taking Brad off the team—which was because he was making out with a presumably hot guy—then there was a possibility that he would tell Drew that Greg was gay. It was unlikely because they were friends, but it was still there.

“Uh…” he looked around. “He was makin’ out with another guy. That’s not good if you want to be on the team.”

Greg leaned in close. “Chip?”

Chip leaned back a little and squinted, his brain ticking over. “Oh, right.”

“So you think he was kicked for a solid reason? That it was the right thing to do, _just_ because he was making out with a cute guy?” Greg crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a few people turn and look at him.

“Hey, I’m not one to judge but being on the football team is one thing, being a fag is another. You're kind of a sissy at that point. You can’t really do both because it just doesn’t work like that.” Chip held his hands up in defence. _Ouch?_

“So… you think I’m a sissy?” Greg whispered.

Chip looked _extremely_ uncomfortable. So he should be. Greg had a stone cold gaze set on his face. Chip shook his head and stumbled over more words, trying to find a defence but it wasn’t working. Clearly, he didn’t think much before he said things, and _clearly_ , he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the gay thing.

“Whatever. I have to get to class.” Greg waved goodbye to him cheerfully and kept walking, leaving Chip behind.

So Chip _did_ agree with Drew’s reason. It wasn’t that Chip didn’t have a say in it. Chip’s say _was_ that say. And for Chip to be openly homophobic in front of Greg, who he knew was with Jeff? Disgusting. Greg might have to rethink who he had as friends.

When Greg walked into his English classroom Ryan and Wayne were conversing quietly. Greg pushed in between them so he could get to his seat at the wall, interrupting their conversation.

“Wassup?” he folded his arms. “Y’all good?”

“First of all, stop that.” Ryan made a face and held up a finger. “Secondly, I tripped over trying to get out of my car this morning.”

Greg uncrossed his arms and Wayne started laughing.

“Probably those big feet you have.” he snickered.

“Well my foot did get caught in the footwell, so I’d have to agree with you.”

Wayne grinned. “Did anyone see it?”

“Two people, who laughed but when I looked at them tried to play it off like they didn’t laugh.” Ryan rolled his eyes and smiled sourly. “If you’re gonna laugh, just commit to it.”

Greg laughed at him as the teacher suddenly stood up and scratched something onto the chalkboard before underlining aggressively. Greg stopped and paid attention. 

Their teacher was _furious._ No one got high marks on their most recent assessment. Greg avoided looking at the teacher when she was looking in his general area. He probably got the worst mark. His grades in English weren’t the greatest this year so far. He barely managed to pass English last year because he couldn’t write essays for shit. He fully expected the teacher to call him out and say ‘see me after class’ so she could discuss Greg’s bad grade on the assessment. 

And sure enough, she did. 

“Ugh, boys are just _so_ pretty.” Greg groaned when he later arrived at recess. Ryan had grabbed the cake Greg bought from the teacher’s lounge. Greg still wasn’t sure how he managed to keep it in there without the teachers eating or refusing to let him have it there. Jeff wasn’t there yet, unfortunately, so it was sitting there in it’s box. Greg could see the heart the woman had decorated onto it through the lid and it made his heart jump.

Ryan looked up at him with a look on his face that said ‘I agree with your statement’. Colin raised an eyebrow. Greg continued his swooning. “How is it that they can be so cute? Especially with their fucking faces and fucking jawlines and god, their long eyelashes and, and, their Adam’s apple is just so _hot_.”

Colin nodded but said nothing. Greg eyed him suspiciously and continued. “Okay. I’m definitely talking about Jeff, by the way. Didn’t know if you could tell but I’m _really_ horny for Jeff.”

"You don't say?" Colin said.

“Jesus,” Ryan laughed. He glanced at Colin a few times.

“He has a beautiful face! He is beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, fucking boner-inducing, did I mention gorgeous?” Greg whined, feeling his heart flutter and his cheeks redden very slightly. “Fuck, man.”

“I don’t think I heard you, did you say gorgeous?” Ryan teased, cupping his ear and leaning closer to Greg. Greg rolled his eyes and grabbed his food out of his bag.

“I did say that. And I’ll say it as many times as I want.” Greg folded his legs onto his seat. “Jeff is gorgeous. So much prettier than you. The best. Cutest.”

Ryan feigned offence. “Prettier than me?” he dramatically turned to Colin. “Tell me that’s not true!”

Colin stared at Ryan. “I’m with Greg on this one, Ry. You’re a big stick with a big nose.”

“Okay, that was uncalled for.” Ryan held up a finger. Greg burst out laughing and covered his nose when he snorted. Colin and Ryan laughed at Greg’s laughter. 

Jeff bounded up to the table and ruffled Greg’s hair. “Hello!”

“Jeff! We have cake.” Greg pointed at the cake. “For you!”

Jeff gasped and sat down next to Greg. “Really?”

“Yep.” Greg linked their arms. “Let’s eat it quickly before Brad and Wayne get here.”

Jeff giggled at Greg’s greediness for the cake. “Okay. Do you have a knife to cut it with?”

Okay. Greg really didn’t think this through.

 

“I dare you to stand on top of that car.”

Greg stared at Brad, mouth agape. “That’s the principal’s car.”

Brad shrugged, adjusting the collar of his denim jacket. “He’s not here right now, is he?”

“Alright, I’ll do it.” Greg grinned, jogging to the principal’s car.

They were both still on school grounds even though school had ended an hour ago. It was raining earlier today, and it had stopped now but the clouds were still dark. The sun couldn’t be seen. Slowly they were making their way to the gate, but they had stopped in the parking lot in which _all_ the teacher’s cars were still parked. A lot of their cars were old and they made Greg feel bad for them, but on the other hand, it was cool that they were sort of vintage. Neither he or Brad knew anything about cars.

Greg felt he was getting closer with Brad, now that he was sitting with them every day. They understood each other quite well, enjoying the pastime of reading instead of homework. They were like brothers. They did things brothers would do normally such as argue in a loving manner. Greg teased Brad and Brad teased Greg but they both knew it was a joke. It wasn’t all teasing, though. Brad liked to speak deeply and intellectually about random topics, as did Greg. Strange for someone who was a football player for most of his school life.

Right as Greg jumped up onto the back of the car Brad started clapping enthusiastically. They both laughed as Greg continued climbing up.

“Just look at me go…” he said to himself, standing up straight on the back of the car. “Ta-da!”

Brad turned to him and cheered. “Yay! You’re officially a rebel.”

“Well, well, well. Look who we have here.”

Immediately Brad and Greg snapped their heads to the voice and found it belonged to Drew. Behind him were three others, one of them being Chip, the other two Greg didn’t recognise. 

“Greg, get down from there,” Brad whispered to him, stepping back a bit. Drew had come around from behind the car parked next to the one Greg was on, his arms crossed to make him look menacing. Greg stepped down from the top and jumped from the back, landing just in front of Brad.

“What do you want, Drew?” Greg huffed. 

Drew stepped closer by a few paces. The other three had copied his stance, crossing their arms and lifting their chins so they looked tall. Chip was leaning against the car, staring Greg in the eyes. It made Greg extremely uncomfortable but he held his ground. “Greg. We’ve heard a few rumours… going around the school.”

“I didn’t know you were one to listen to gossip, Drew.” Greg raised an eyebrow. Greg heard Brad swallow behind him and Greg folded his arms. He was both scared and feeling confident at the same time. Why? He didn’t know. 

“There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me.”

Brad cleared his throat. “If I may-“

“Look, everyone!” Drew exclaimed, interrupting Brad. “It’s the faggot who we kicked off the team!”

Greg glanced back at Brad. His fists were clenched but he kept a calm face. “I’m not gay.”

This time Chip spoke. He almost looked guilty. “Is that so? You were pretty gay when you were making out with that kid in the corner. Remember that?”

“It looked pretty gay to me,” Drew said, his pitch going up a notch. 

“I’ll ask again. What do you want, Drew?” Greg sighed. Drew moved away from him, beginning to circle the two of them like a vulture circling its dinner. Greg followed Drew with his eyes, watching as he stepped just a bit too close to Brad, pushing him slightly back into Greg with his fingers. “Don’t touch him.”

“Oh?” Drew raised his eyebrows at Greg. “Is he your _boyfriend?_ Did he give you those hickeys?”

Drew appeared in front of him and pointed to his neck, his finger uncomfortably close to his skin.

“No, no he isn’t. And no.” Greg said as sternly as he could without sounding scared. He didn’t have any visible hickeys on him. It had been a week since he went to Jeff’s for his birthday and they were both careful to keep them hidden. If Greg pulled down his shirt—which was actually Jeff’s—there were love-bites _everywhere._

The longer Drew hung around, the longer that Chip was eyeing them, the more freaked out Greg was getting. Before, he wasn’t so scared because he had Brad and there was a possibility that they would leave. But he could now feel his heart pumping faster and his breathing getting shorter. 

“Are ya _sure?_ ” Drew growled. The two football players that Greg didn’t recognise started moving around the three of them. Quickly he returned his attention to Drew. He looked… bigger? Greg’s eyes darted around now. Drew was cracking his knuckles, Chip was lighting a cigarette and still leaning against the car, one of the guys who Greg didn’t know was staring Brad down, the other was backing Drew. Greg swallowed painfully, his throat suddenly dry.

“I’m—I’m quite sure we’re not—not dating…” Greg managed nervously, stepping back from them. 

In the blink of an eye, Greg was knocked down onto the pavement. His jaw was throbbing.

 _What happened?_ Did Drew punch him? Greg sat up and looked around. His ears were ringing, most likely from hitting his head on the ground. He could see that Brad was about to come over and help him up. Greg cringed as he got punched in the stomach, hunching over with a grunt. 

There wasn’t much warning. Greg stood up, swaying a little. He caught sight of Drew’s smile before he was bashed in the side of his head by that very same guy. He stumbled, falling against the car. “GOD! _Fuck you_ …” Greg growled in response. His sight was blurry but he saw it coming— Drew’s hand. This time he ducked and tried to run. 

“Not so fast—“ he heard Drew say, “—well, grab him!”

Greg was grabbed. Whose hands were they? They were very tight, painful. He was spun around and held in a headlock. The more he struggled the tighter their grip got. There was no use. This guy was strong. He opened his eyes just a little. Brad was fighting—who was he fighting? Greg’s vision was blurry; his glasses were no longer on his face. He could taste blood. His ears were ringing. He couldn’t hear properly but Drew was saying something. Probably an insult to Greg. Or to the guy holding him. It looked nasty with the way his face was set.

Suddenly, a burning pain coming from the side of his face, the same side that was punched. Greg screamed in pain. What was that? A cigarette? He shut his eyes tight and he was forced down onto his knees, still in the headlock. His eyes were closed, he didn’t expect it, Drew (he assumed) kicked him in the gut. It was getting harder to breathe. The guy who was holding him was doing so extremely tight and Greg dug his fingernails into his arm.

“Let… me… go…” he managed, dry heaving. He coughed and tasted more blood. He spat it in front of him.

They ignored him and held him there, Drew laughing at him as he struggled with the little strength he had. He could feel his eyes beginning to tear up from the pain coming from his face. Gagging at the pressure on his throat, Greg closed his eyes and tried to breathe. When Greg scratched the guy with his nails with as much force he could muster, he grunted.

“Alright, damn!” It was Chip’s voice. _Chip was holding him._ Chip, who he considered his friends. Well, not anymore. He was pulled up from the ground again and let go. But not the way he wanted. Instead, he was hurtled towards a car and his head crashed against the rim. Everything was hurting and was that… blood? Coming from his nose?

“You guys… are assholes…” he coughed, holding his arm across his body. He couldn’t see anything and his head was pounding. He could feel his cheek burning from where Chip burned him with the cigarette and he held a hand there as an attempt to stop some pain. _Pain, pain, pain, pain, pain, pain, pain. Pain means bread in French._ Why did he care about that?

Neither Drew nor Chip answered him as Drew clocked him hard on his jaw, again. That last punch was enough force to send Greg flying sideways onto his face, hitting his head against the rim of the car for a second time. His ears were ringing and blood was pouring out his nose. Some of it was in his _mouth_. Greg coughed violently and tried to get up. Nope. His arms were weak. He fell back down to the ground and braced for impact as Chip swung his leg back. _BAM_. Right in his gut. Tears were streaming out of his eyes now, mixing with the blood from his nose. 

His thoughts were barely coherent but he knew one thing: he had to get away. But how? He was useless. Weak. In a _lot_ of pain. His attempt to focus was stopped by Chip kicking him in the stomach again, a horrible grunting noise coming from his throat. Fuck, he was coughing up blood now. _Everything hurts._ His head was still pounding, his ears still ringing, jaw most likely was swollen. Yet again his attempt to focus was stopped but this time, Drew grabbed Greg’s wrists and pulled him up to his knees. Drew’s grip was tight and Greg thought if he went any tighter his hands would pop off. Greg was breathing heavily and coughing every few seconds.

_This is where I die. This is it._

“That’s what you get… for being a _fag_.” Drew hissed, dropping Greg’s wrists. 

Greg barely heard him. He instantly fell face-down onto the asphalt. He felt the vibrations of Drew’s footsteps as he walked away. After a few seconds, Greg attempted to get up but he could barely move. He couldn’t see anything since his glasses had fallen off, but he could see someone sitting a few feet away from him. He blacked out. He probably had a concussion considering how many times his head was hit against the car. 

The next thing Greg knew, he was being dragged up from the ground onto his knees.

“Greg?” he heard a voice—Brad? “Greg? Wake up!”

Greg tried his best to open his eyes and squint at who it was. “Br-Brad?”

“Yes, it’s Brad,” he confirmed, holding Greg’s chin up. “God, you’re bleeding a lot.”

“Well I was just beaten up, I’d imagine that I’d be bleeding a lot—“ Greg hissed in pain when Brad touched the side of his head lightly. “Or you could not do that…”

“Sorry, but the side of your head is, oh I don’t know, fucking bleeding?” Brad was panicking. “We need to get you home _now_. Here—cover your nose.” He grabbed Greg’s arm and pushed his wrist to his nose as an attempt to stop the bleeding. “Is that a cigarette burn?”

Greg didn’t answer. He coughed and spat blood out onto the ground, pinching his nose. 

“Okay, we need to get you home.” 

“No no no, my mom can’t see me like this…” Greg’s speech slurred a little and he closed his eyes again. “Uh—do you have my glasses?”

“Uh, they are… a bit… broken.” 

Greg didn’t really hear him and he didn’t care anymore. He could barely hold himself up; Brad was now sitting next to him and leaning Greg against him. Greg could see that he was bleeding all over Brad’s jacket and he couldn’t imagine what his clothes looked like. The shirt he was wearing was Jeff’s and admittedly, so were the jeans. Jeff had let him take them after he spent the night on his birthday, so it’s not like he stole them. But he assumed there was now blood all over them.

He must have passed out because when he came to he was standing with his arm around Brad’s shoulder and it was darker than it was before. They hadn’t moved from the parking lot. All of his weight was on Brad and, thank god Greg wasn’t extremely heavy because Brad would probably fall over and hurt both of them even more. Greg looked around and tried to gather what was happening. They must’ve been sitting there for half an hour at least because the sun was mostly down and it was getting a little cold. 

“Alright… I let you rest for a bit but now you gotta walk with me… I may be strong but I’m not _dragging_ you.” Brad said lightly. He began to walk forwards and Greg tried his best to keep up, but he was extremely lightheaded and found it hard to keep himself up.

“I—I can’t Brad—“ Greg whined, coughing again, more blood being spat. Brad grunted, something about _‘I wanted to avoid this,’_ and somehow, with whatever strength he could muster, picked Greg up bridal style. Greg was dazed from the sudden movement and he felt like he was floating. His face was still stinging and the side of his head pounded.

Greg passed out again. This time he didn’t wake up until they were near his home.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eek, I'm sorry.


	10. Snap a Photo, Handsome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After what happened, Brad and Greg arrive at Greg's house and find Sara. The next day, Jeff comes over after school.

Greg was barely conscious by the time Brad got him to his house. How he got there without running into anyone or dropping Greg surprised him. And how Brad managed to transfer Greg into a piggyback position he’ll never, ever know. Thankfully he didn’t live that far from school. Greg woke up because Brad stopped for a bit and he lowered Greg to the ground. Greg’s breathing was wispy and he wanted nothing more than to be asleep again. It was quite dark out now and the temperature was starting to drop a little. 

“I couldn’t carry you any longer, I’m sorry,” Brad said quietly.

“Don’t… don’t be sorry.” Greg managed. He kept his eyes closed. “You were hurt too.”

Brad said nothing. He helped Greg up from the ground and placed Greg’s arm around his shoulders.

“I’m probably going to have… the worst headache.” he joked weakly. Brad let out a small laugh and adjusted his grip on Greg’s torso.

“Probably.” Brad agreed. “How many times did they actually punch you?”

Greg held his free hand to his head, wincing a little. “You honestly think I was counting?” 

“Hey, you never know.”

“I don’t know…” Greg sighed. “What happened to you?”

Brad was silent for a few seconds while he thought about it. “Julian got me in the stomach right after you were first punched. He’s the new kid who replaced me.”

“Chip told me about him last week,” Greg winced as Brad turned them up his driveway. “Also, how do you know where I live?”

Brad helped Greg up the stairs to his door. “I’ve been here once before.”

“Oh… Right.”

Brad let go of Greg’s hand that was around his shoulders and knocked on the door. Around ten seconds later someone opened it. Greg managed to look up and open his eyes enough to see a figure gasp. He couldn’t see much without his glasses.

“Greg—oh my god! Where have you been? And what the _fuck_ happened to you!” Sara hissed. She beckoned Greg and Brad in, not bothering to ask who the hell Brad was. She shut the door and carefully grabbed Greg’s face, examining it close enough so that Greg could see her without his glasses.

“Hi, Sara.”

“Don’t just ‘hi Sara’ me!” she glared at him. “Who did this to you? And where are your glasses?”

Brad removed Greg’s arm from his shoulder, thankfully still helping him stand up. Greg felt like he was going to drop at any moment. Sara let go of his face. “I’ll get your other glasses. Go into the kitchen _now_. Mom and Dad aren’t home.”

Greg did as he was told, Brad helping him there. Once he was sitting on one of the stools Brad let go of his side and stood next to him. Greg leaned heavily onto the counter, exhausted. This was the worst thing that could happen to him. Thank god his parents weren’t home. 

He heard footsteps coming towards him and some glasses were thrust into his hand. He put them on and suddenly he could see everything again. “Thanks.”

He turned towards Brad and cringed. He had a forming black eye and his hair was really messy. If Brad looked like that he could barely imagine what he looked like. Part of him didn’t even want to know. Thinking about it made him want to throw up. It hurt without knowing what it looked like. Somehow, it might hurt more looking at his injuries. Most of all the burn on the side of his face. 

“Okay, I need to clean your face up. This might sting so try not being a baby.” Sara said sarcastically, holding up some baby wipes. Greg rolled his eyes and stayed still. However, once Sara pressed the baby wipe to his cheek he let out a yelp of pain and grabbed Brad’s arm.

“Ow!” he hissed. “Be careful.”

Sara held up her hands in defence. “Hey, I said try _not_ to be a baby.”

“Maybe warn me?” Greg said in a patronising voice. 

“He was hurt pretty viciously,” Brad added. “There’s a burn on the side of his face that you pressed the wipe into.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Sara squinted at Brad. “And you have a black eye.”

Brad touched his eye softly as if feeling the black eye. “I’m Brad. His friend.”

“Do you know who did this?” Sara grabbed the back of Greg’s head and held him still, pressing the baby wipe to his face once again before starting to wipe away the dried blood. Greg tightened his grip on Brad’s arm and winced. 

“Uh, Drew?”

Sara rolled her eyes back so far they almost got lost inside her head. “Of-fucking-course.”

Greg pushed her arm away from his face and let go of Brad’s arm. “Ah, okay. Stop.”

Sara rested her hands on her hips. “There’s still blood on your face.”

“I know!” Greg narrowed his eyes. “It fucking hurts!”

“Okay. Get him some water, please Brad.” Sara rolled her eyes and left the room. Brad scoured the kitchen for some cups before filling them with water. He handed one to Greg.

“That’s my sister,” Greg muttered before gulping down the water. It was like he hadn’t had a drink in decades. His throat was suddenly not croaky and he felt a little better. He still had a throbbing headache, and his entire body was sore. Brad sat on the second stool.

“I gathered that.”

Greg delicately put his now empty glass on the kitchen counter.

Sara returned with a rag tied up into a bag-like creation, presumably filled with ice. She gave it to Greg and told him to hold it against his burn, or ‘wherever it hurts the most’. As he did that Sara grabbed the baby wipes again and asked if she could clean Brad’s face up. He said yes, but only because he didn’t want to look like a load of shit when he got home. 

Even though Greg had passed out on the way home he was getting tired again. His body was starting to crash, and at times he couldn’t keep his eyes open. Both Brad and Sara noticed and Sara pretty much ordered him to go to bed. 

“Or at least the bathroom. Clean up the rest of your face that you wouldn’t let me do.” She rolled her eyes. Greg patted Brad as a goodbye and left to the bathroom, his limbs heavy. 

With a shaky breath, he finally forced himself to look into the mirror and see his injuries. His eyes widened at what he saw. On the left side of his face, his jaw was swollen and was already bruising and gaining a multitude of colours. His nose was also bruised, and there was still some dried blood around his nostrils and on his lips. His lips were cracked, annoyingly. He usually kept them as moisturised as possible so he had soft lips for Jeff, and now—he looked closer—he had a split lip. It wasn’t just cracked. Wincing, he touched his fingers to his brow, where he was punched yet again. 

Drew had really gone for it, hadn’t he? Greg didn't expect him to ever do that. Drew never beat anyone up, since his bark was worse than his bite. Maybe Greg got on his last nerve today. But Greg didn’t remember even looking at Drew today, so he didn’t know what he did wrong. 

The Drew thing wasn’t the worst though. The worst was _Chip._

How could he? Chip had been Greg’s friend for three years. Chip had been to Greg’s house and tried to teach him the little things about football, still failing in getting Greg to completely understand the game. Their music taste was wildly different, but Chip still tried to understand more about Greg’s interests and supported him in those regards. Chip knew Greg was with Jeff. He was there the day they made it official. So why would he join Drew in beating him up? Did he _tell_ Drew that Greg was gay?

Greg looked like a dropped peach. No, worse than that. He looked like someone had thrown up an out of date peach that was dropped. His skin was paler, which was from the amount of blood he’d lost, assumedly. Turning his head to the side he saw there was dried blood in his hair. That must be from when his head had hit the rim of the car _twice._

He seriously couldn’t let his mom know he was hurt, and why it happened. She would freak out. She worried too much about Greg to begin with, this would just cause more problems. If he told her what happened, he’d have to tell her why it happened. And he didn’t know if he was ready for that.

Greg turned the cold water on and carefully pulled his— _Jeff’s_ —shirt off, revealing his torso. His reflection was a sight to see. It was as if someone had painted a renaissance painting, but then spilt all the darker colours onto their painting and got angry that they did that. It wasn’t a pretty sight, and Greg hated looking at it even more than he hated looking at his face. His stomach was tender to touch and every time he dabbed the face-washer onto it he had to stop himself from screaming. He also scrubbed gently at the side of his head to clean his scalp.

He didn’t bother showering or taking a bath, he was too tired. Instead, he cleaned the rest of his face with a lot of pain and fell onto his bed, still in his jeans, and fell asleep immediately. The next morning when he woke it was as if he had blinked and it was morning. Or—he looked at the clock—eleven o’clock in the morning at least. He was still over the covers, wearing his—Jeff’s, actually— jeans. They were surprisingly comfortable to sleep in, which he hadn’t expected nor thought about much. Rolling over he groaned. It was just as painful as it was last night to touch his stomach and lying on it clearly brought pain. He didn’t know if he could get up without possibly crying. 

He touched a hand to his face. It wasn’t as swollen, but he’d still need to put ice on his jaw. In fact, he needed to stick his whole face in ice. The bruises wouldn’t go away for a least a week, maybe even two. They were going to be _wonderful_ for everyone else at school to see. His jaw was where the most painful punch was, though, and where the worst bruise would most likely be. It was the first of many and unexpected, to say the least. Suddenly, a quiet knock on his bedroom door startled him.

“Come in,” he mumbled, reaching for his bedside table, searching blindly for his glasses. Since he was blind, he didn’t know who had come in until they spoke. 

“How are you feeling?” asked Sara, sitting at the foot of his bed. “You were pretty fucked up last night. I didn’t like looking at you. Brad has a much nicer face.”

“I’m still pretty fucked up this morning. And yeah, he does.” he croaked, finally managing to grab his glasses and placing them over his eyes. “Everything hurts. And I can definitely feel this headache.”

“So it was Drew, right?” 

Greg nodded. “Oh yeah.”

“What did you do?” she crossed her legs on the bed. “Did you like… look at him?”

“Are mom and dad home?” Greg sighed quietly. Glancing down, he saw Sara shake her head no. “They think it’s hilarious that I am in love with a _boy_ who can make me feel special. Which is not a good thing, according to them. They don’t even know for sure about it, I don’t think.”

Sara frowned. “But it is a good thing. You deserve to feel special, Greg.”

“Thanks, Sara,” he muttered. “They just think it’s dumb.”

Sara frowned slightly and reached up for Greg’s hands so she could pull him up into a sitting position. As she did Greg let out a horrible squeaking noise that made up for the pain from his stomach. Slowly he manoeuvred himself to the wall where he leaned against it, Sara soon copying his position.

“What I don’t understand is why they decided… yesterday was the day to… to do it. You weren’t alone and you hadn’t provoked them in any way, had you?” 

Greg shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe?”

“Why did they go for you and Brad?” She grumbled. “They can’t ruin that good a face.”

Greg raised an eyebrow at her just like he had done last night. “Sounds like someone has a crush on Bradley.”

Immediately Sara denied it. “No! He’s just… cute, is all.”

“Sure.” Greg rolled his eyes. “I think they caught me at the right time because Brad was with me, obviously, and they’d recently kicked him off the team for kissing another guy.”

“Oh my god.” Sara scoffed. “Really? They’re that homophobic?”

“You’re just realising now?” Greg said. “They literally beat me up even though they have barely any proof that I’m gay. They just think I’m gay. Unless… No. It’s dumb.”

Sara looked at him curiously. “What is?”

Greg sighed. “Well, Chip knows I’m gay. And he was there yesterday.”

Sara bit her lip. “And that means?”

“He could’ve told Drew.” 

Sara nodded very slowly. “Okay. I _might_ just order some pizza tonight so I can kick this buttheads face in.”

“Please do.”

 

Apparently, neither of Greg’s parents knew he was at home. Sara had told them he’d already left for school before they’d gotten up, which Greg didn’t know how they were convinced since they woke up at seven-thirty. Occasionally throughout the day, Sara came into his room with a bunch of ice for him to hold against his face so the bruises would start to disappear quicker. He didn’t even try and get out of bed because his body was still in a lot of pain and he still felt like a dead weight. Like a ship’s anchor, really heavy. Everything was painful to do, but he managed to sit himself up and lean against the wall so he could read. Obviously, he was reading _The Shining._

He was about three-quarters of the way through the book when Sara bust into his room again, this time with no ice.

“There’s someone at the door for you.” she folded her arms. “He looks like a neat… punk. I don’t know. Half punk half formal. Something. His hair is messy?”

It took Greg a few seconds for that to register in his brain but when it did he was out of bed in a flash. Sara stared at him in shock as he raced to the front door. With one big heave, he opened it. 

“Jeff!” He exclaimed and leapt out to hug him. Jeff’s coat was damp from the rain—which Greg didn’t even realise was happening—but Greg didn’t care. Jeff hugged him back tightly, cradling his head and kissing the side. Greg looked up and they stared lovingly into each other's eyes. Greg still had his arms wrapped around him as if he’d be gone forever if he let go.

“Kissing in the rain is cheesy and cliche,” Jeff whispered. “But I don’t care.”

Jeff closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to Greg’s. Greg was taken by surprise but he didn’t mind. The hottest boy in the world was kissing him. And he was kissing back, eagerly. The rain was drenching both of them, dripping down both their faces and hanging around their lips, making it look as if they were really sweaty.

Then from behind them, Sara cleared her throat.

Both of them turned and looked at her. “What?”

“You might want to get out of the rain? And out of the view of the neighbours?” 

Greg nodded and pulled Jeff inside, closing the front door. He pulled Jeff’s now-soaked-jacket off him and hung it up on one of the hooks. “Sara, this is Jeff. Jeff, this is my older sister Sara.”

“Hello.” Jeff held out a hand. Sara took it and shook it.

“Well hello there, mister.” she raised an eyebrow. “Greg, when you say he is a dream he is _very much_ a dream.”

Jeff turned to Greg with a smirk on his face. “Dream, huh?” 

“Yeah…” Greg’s face warmed up but he nodded. Jeff hung his arm around Greg’s shoulders and kissed his cheek. 

“If anything you’re the dream, but we can discuss that later.” he winked and Greg had to cover his mouth to stop the high-pitched noise he was about to make from coming out.Sara was frowning. “I won’t ask. Anyway, welcome. Take your shoes off.”

Jeff kicked his shoes off.

“I know you’ve already been here so I won’t bother with a tour, but do you want a drink or something?”

“No thanks.” Jeff smiled a small smile, then he turned to Greg. “Can we go to your room?”

“Let’s go.” Greg nodded eagerly. He figured Jeff would want to talk about what happened to Greg. It was natural, obviously. If Ryan had come over he’d want to talk as well. They both stepped into Greg’s room and closed the door behind them. Immediately Greg hugged Jeff again, burying his face into Jeff’s shoulder and squeezing him tightly. Jeff hugged him back, but not as tightly.

When Greg pulled his face away from Jeff’s shoulder he grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. It was soft, though Greg didn’t know how it could be when his lips were so cracked and damaged. Jeff cupped his cheek and pulled away.

“You know you’re still in my jeans, right?” Jeff grinned, glancing down. 

“I slept in them.” Greg winked playfully. “But only because I was so exhausted.”

“Oh yeah. About that.” Jeff moved towards Greg’s bed and sat on it, pulling Greg with him. “What happened to you? I only got the short, shitty version from Brad.”

Greg hung his head. “Well, you know the gist of it. Drew tried to punch my face into my neck and my stomach inside out. I look a lot worse today because the bruises have really ‘set in’.”

Jeff looked at Greg sadly. “Why did he hurt you?”

“Because you gave me all those hickeys, remember?” Greg pointed out. “And he thinks I’m gay.”

“Well, you are.”

“He doesn’t know for sure.” Greg winced. “But he thinks he knows enough to hurt me over it. And now I’m kinda scared to go back to school. I don’t want to be hurt again, Jeff.”

“I know what you mean,” Jeff said quietly. “It sucks.”

Greg looked up at Jeff and held his hand. “Um, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot, babe.”

“You’ve known since middle school right? That you’re gay?” Greg asked. Jeff nodded. “Well, I was wondering… did anyone ever like, hurt you over it?”

Jeff licked his lips and paused. “I… would very much like to say ‘no’ but unfortunately… I can’t.”

“I… Wow,” Greg whispered, his voice cracking.

“Let’s not talk about that, though. We’re both okay now, right?” he smiled a small smile.

Greg smiled with him. “We’re okay."

He scooted back so he was against the wall. Jeff did the same. They sat in silence for a bit, their hands still closed together. Jeff smelled of rain and leaning against his damp shirt was making Greg feel a bit weird. So when he finally got his voice back he told him to get one of Greg’s shirts. 

“Alright. But you just wanna see me without a shirt,” Jeff grinned a little, but he still got up to go and get a shirt from Greg’s closet. 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Greg also grinned, following him. 

“Your shirt is also wet, you know?” Jeff pointed out, shirtless. Greg admired him before answering. Damn.

“You don’t want to see me without a shirt right now.”

“I always want to see you with no shirt, Greg. Don’t doubt me.” Jeff said while pulling an already buttoned-up shirt of Greg’s over his head. It was short-sleeved, dark blue and had white dots on it. Greg hesitantly took his damp shirt off. 

“Are you sure you always want to see me without a shirt?” said Greg quietly, grabbing Jeff’s shirt along with his own and throwing them into the laundry basket a few feet away. “Cause like, look at me.”

Jeff scanned Greg’s body. His soft, brown eyes went a little sad for a second when he caught the colourful bruises on his stomach, but he looked back up into Greg’s eyes, not really fazed by what he saw. “You’re still beautiful, Greg. I’m concerned, but you’re okay. So it doesn’t matter to me what your body looks like.”

Jeff caressed Greg’s side softly as Greg blushed a little and leaned against the wall behind him. “Thanks.”

“Though, I guess I have to ask. What on earth did they do to you to bruise you like that?” asked Jeff, as he grabbed a sweater from Greg’s closet. “Hold your arms up.”

Greg held his arms up and Jeff pulled the soft, knitted, red and white sweater onto him. “Well, I did say he tried to turn my stomach inside out.”

“I was so angry when Brad told us what happened,” Jeff admitted, looking at Greg’s face again when the sweater was on him. “Colin talked me out of murdering the guys who did it. I really _really_ hate Drew.”

“And Chip.”

“And Chip.”

“Going and murdering them honestly doesn’t sound like something you’d do though. You’re too peaceful, which I like, by the way.” Greg hugged Jeff, resting his chin on Jeff’s shoulder. Jeff held his own arms around Greg tightly.

Then they both ventured back to Greg’s bed and Greg lay his head down on the pillow. His glasses were uncomfortable against his face and pressing into his nose so he took them off. Before he could put them on his bedside table Jeff grabbed them out of his hands and put them on himself.

“Oh my _god_ , you are blind,” Jeff said in shock.

“I would love to see how you look right now but unfortunately, I can’t see.” Greg looked up at the blurry figure that was Jeff. Jeff was (presumably) sitting cross-legged next to him, and he had one hand holding Greg’s side gently.

“I look amazing,” Jeff said. “And kind of like a nerd.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“When you wear them you look cute, Greg.” Jeff leaned a little closer and Greg squinted. “I look like someone who is stuck in an office job but he likes to go out to strip clubs in the evening to pay the ladies some generous money.”

Greg started laughing and he adjusted himself onto his back. “Sara has a Polaroid camera. We should steal it just so I can see what you look like.”

“Oh my god, can we?” Jeff clapped his hands and gave Greg his glasses back. Greg slipped them on and looked at Jeff’s eager grin.

“Let’s go!” Greg forced himself up and led Jeff to Sara’s room and found she had disappeared not just from her room, but from the house entirely. Greg flicked on the light since even though it was daytime, it was quite dark and still raining outside. Greg frowned at the mess beneath him and carefully stepped towards her dresser.

Jeff sidled up next to Greg. “Maybe she wanted to give us some alone time, eh?”

“Or she’s gone to her ‘boyfriend’s’.” Greg grinned, sidling right back up to Jeff. “Seeing her younger brother and his boyfriend probably made her sad and jealous so she’s gone to have sex with someone she’s not even dating, which I find highly entertaining. All they do is have sex with no strings attached.”

“That’s a pretty good arrangement.”

Greg nodded. “I know.”

Greg fumbled throughout her dresser, trying to find the camera. He looked up into the mirror and saw Jeff behind him.

“Hey, have you uh… I don’t know… thought about it?” Jeff shoved his hands in his pockets, his cheeks tinging a bit red. Greg looked up at him in the mirror curiously.

“Thought about what?”

Jeff avoided Greg’s eyes. “Uh… us. Ha, um… Having sex?”

“Oh.” Greg realised, his cheeks warming up. “ _Oh_. Uh, yeah. I have.”

Jeff furrowed his brow and tried not to smile. “Um. Me too.”

“I mean… What else am I supposed to jack off to?” Greg joked, trying to get rid of the tension around them. Jeff burst out laughing and turned away from him. Greg laughed too, a wide grin on his face.

He had thought about what it would be like to have sex with Jeff, honestly. He just didn’t know if he was anywhere near ready for that kind of thing. Hell, they’d only been together for three weeks and the most he’d done was give Jeff a hickey. In some cases that would be fast, but Greg had no clue how fast he and Jeff were moving. Was three weeks too quick for hickeys? They made out on their first date. Okay, Greg was thinking too much into this. 

“Fair, fair,” Jeff said when he finally got his breathing back. “Have you found the camera?”

Greg snapped back to reality and held up the instant camera with one hand. “Yep.”

“Let’s go back to your room then!” Jeff clapped excitedly again, already leaving before Greg. Greg raced to follow him and went into his room to find Jeff posing dramatically against the windowsill, a sultry look on his face that made Greg’s heart thump. “Snap a photo, handsome.”

Greg brought the camera to his eye and snapped a picture. The Polaroid came chugging out and he snatched it in two fingers, waving it around so it would process quicker. Jeff tried to grab it but Greg held it away from him.

“Nope, not yet.” he grinned teasingly. “You gotta wait.”

“Can I take a photo of you then? While we wait?” Jeff pouted, giving Greg puppy dog eyes. Greg gave him the camera and put the Polaroid onto his desk. He cupped his own cheeks, grinning and shutting his eyes. “Aww! I swear you’re the cutest in the entire world.”

When Greg opened his eyes again Jeff was waving around the second polaroid. Greg managed to steal it front him and he placed it down on his desk next to the other one. They continued to play with the camera until it ran out of film; they took photos in Greg’s mirror; they took a photo of them kissing; they each took another photo of one another, and they took a few selfies of just them—one with Jeff wearing Greg’s glasses of course. Sara was probably going to kill Greg for using up all the film. At one point Greg left and searched for more just so they could take more photos.

They both sat at Greg’s desk, staring at the mostly-white polaroids, waiting. It was pretty much natural at this point, Greg was sitting on Jeff’s lap while he sat on Greg’s chair. 

“I’ve never taken so many photos in my life,” Greg admitted.

“Polaroids are cute,” Jeff rubbed Greg’s thigh. “You can take half and I’ll take half, sound fair?”

“Well, duh.” Greg leaned his head onto the top of Jeff’s. “How many are there?”

Jeff counted them, and his eyebrows perked up. “Like, nineteen.”

“So we get…” Greg closed his eyes for a second. “Nine each and someone gets an extra one. You can have that if you want?”

Jeff hugged Greg around his torso. “We have to wait and decide to see what we actually took photos of because to be honest I only remember like three of them.”

“I know I definitely want one of the ones where we’re kissing.” Greg started playing with Jeff’s hair. “I bet it’s super cute.”

“Good thing we took two of them.” Jeff leaned into his touch. Greg hummed and kissed the top of Jeff’s head, then he tilted Jeff’s chin up so he could kiss him on the lips. Jeff brought his hand up from Greg’s thigh and held his jaw delicately because it still had a lovely bruise on it. The only bad thing about all these photos is that Greg wouldn’t look the greatest in them. The bruises had calmed down a little bit, especially on his face, but they weren’t suddenly gone. They would definitely show in the photos.

They made out for so long that when they finally broke apart all the polaroids were processed. Jeff kissed him quickly on the lips again a few more times, a grin stuck on his face. Greg giggled a little as Jeff turned and grabbed one of the polaroids, examining it.

“Look, it’s us in the mirror.” he showed it to Greg and Greg looked a little closer at it. They were both holding up peace signs and Jeff had his leg kicked up slightly.

“Wow.” Greg laughed. “We’re losers.”

“Yeah.” Jeff agreed. “But that’s okay.”

It took a while but they managed to separate the polaroids so they would each take nine. The last one they had no idea what to do with it, so they left it on the desk. Which basically meant that Greg was keeping it, but it didn’t really matter. For the rest of the afternoon, they sat in Greg’s room talking with one another about topics that also didn’t _really_ matter, but it made for great conversation. For most of the time, they were talking Greg was sitting on Jeff or lying on him. Greg didn’t have a beanbag chair in his bedroom, nor was his bed the same size, but they both fit on it. Plus, the smaller the bed the closer together they could be. Jeff still smelt a bit like rain, despite being inside for so long. He also looked adorable in Greg’s shirt. He looked so smart casual, and for some reason, it _really_ went well with the bracelet he was wearing. He had also tucked his shirt into the front of his jeans and _damn_ did he look good.

Jeff somehow ended up falling asleep up on Greg’s bed while Greg was in the bathroom. Greg climbed onto the bed beside him, resting his head on Jeff’s shoulder. It was really sweet of Jeff to come and see him after school. Greg definitely did love him. Jeff really cared about Greg, and he made sure Greg knew that he was loved. Honestly, the best boyfriend one could ever ask for.

Greg took his glasses off and dropped them off the side of the bed before shutting his eyes and letting sleep take him. He dozed off pretty quickly, the exhaustion kicking in suddenly. Curled up next to Jeff was his favourite way to sleep.

  


Sara jangled her keys in her fingers and checked her watch. It was six-thirty, and her parents weren’t home yet. They’d be home soon, but it was starting to get concerning that they always got home so late and left so early. Did they not want to be parents anymore? Maybe they were trying to put the load of caring for Greg and doing the housework onto Sara. Those slime-balls.

She scrunched her face in disgust as she opened up the front door. All the lights were out except for one coming from down the hall. She flicked on the light in the living room and kicked off her shoes. Jeff’s shoes were still there, so he hadn’t left yet. When Jeff arrived earlier and they’d officially met, it was like meeting a prince or something. Sure, his hair was messy, but his fucking sense of style was to die for. If he wasn’t gay and with Greg, Sara would’ve hooked up with him.

She hadn’t wanted to be the third-wheel while they were hanging out earlier, so she’d left to go to Paul’s house. The two of them occasionally had sex, just for the fun of it. So that’s what she did, then she meandered on back home.

She strolled down the hall towards the light, which was coming from Greg’s room. She peered inside and saw both her younger brother and his boyfriend curled up together on his bed. Greg’s legs were tangled with Jeff’s and Jeff’s arms were around Greg protectively, or as if he was holding a teddy bear. Sara held a hand over her heart and closed the door.

Her parents pulled into the driveway a few moments later.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i spent ages researching instant cameras and now i just really really want one lmao


	11. Clearly, Puberty Didn't Do Him Any Favours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff finally meets Greg's parents and he decides to stay the night. The next day, he skips school and meets someone in town he didn't expect to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to make an announcement: None of the clothing in this damn story is accurate to the late 70s because I can't look at it without laughing. It's not the fashion of now, but it's not bell bottoms and huge buckles either.

There was a sudden loud knock on the door that jolted Jeff awake. He looked sleepily down into his arms and saw Greg curled up against him, softly snoring. He didn’t know how long they’d been sleeping but he did have a strange dream. He was at a football game by himself, then a marching band came onto the field. They started forming a word, and Jeff looked around him and people were staring at him with wide eyes. Then he was _in_ the marching band, and Greg was standing next to him with a trumpet in his hands. He did look great in the outfit, but that was when Jeff was woken up.

“Wake up. My parents are home now.” Jeff heard Sara say through the door. He could practically hear her eye roll. He shut his eyes again and waited a few moments before opening them again, looking around.

“Oh… I’m still at Greg’s.” Jeff muttered. For a second he thought he was in his own home, even though he _just_ heard Sara, who didn’t live with him. He rubbed his palm in a circle on Greg’s shoulder blade and he tried to sit up so Greg would wake up. Greg yawned and opened his eyes just a fraction. Stretching, Jeff also yawned. “Hello, sleepy head.”

Greg looked at him tiredly. “Hello.”

“Your parents are home,” Jeff told him quietly, stretching his leg out and rolling his neck. He didn’t know he could get so cramped from staying in one position for so long. A comfy position at that. Greg’s shoulders sagged and he rubbed his own eyes.

“Can I have my glasses? I think they’re on the floor down there.”

Jeff peeked over the side of the bed and saw them on the floor. He leaned down and handed them to Greg, watching as he put them on. Jeff then stood up and ran his hands through his own hair, messing it up in the mirror. He heard Greg snort.

“Yes?” Jeff asked, grinning.

“Just you. And your hair.” Greg got up from the bed and hid his hands inside his sleeves, wrapping his arms around Jeff’s waist and looking at him in the mirror. “It’s the only messy thing about you. I love that.”

“When you’re as pretty as me, hair doesn’t matter.” Jeff blew a kiss at him in the mirror. Greg rolled his eyes and let go of him. He climbed onto his desk and folded his legs, leaning against the wall. Jeff gazed at Greg in the mirror, holding eye contact before swivelling his head to look directly at him.

Greg outstretched his arms and Jeff hurried over and placed himself in them, leaning forward and kissing Greg’s nose. He snorted again but had a dorky grin on his face. Greg’s hands trailed down Jeff’s sides and to his hips, then he adjusted his legs so they were either side of Jeff.

“Guess what.” Greg murmured, gazing up at Jeff.

“What?” Jeff placed his hands on Greg’s shoulders.

“You’re cute.”

Jeff felt a smile coming onto his face and he looked away sheepishly. “Oh, you.”

“More like, ‘oh, my god Jeff is adorable?'” Greg continued, pulling him a bit closer. “My shirt looks good on you.”

“It’s the shirt.” Jeff tilted his head to the side and blushed a little. “Anyway, you’re wrong. You’re adorable.”

“Who says only one of us can be adorable?” Greg gave him puppy dog eyes. “I know I’m adorable, but you… are _gorgeous_.”

Jeff bit his lip and let out a small giggle. “I’m pretty.”

Greg responded, not with words, but with a kiss. He leaned up, Jeff meeting him half-way, and pressed their mouths together softly, his fingers gripping Jeff’s hips just a little bit tighter. Jeff sucked on Greg’s lower lip, a hand running through Greg’s hair. Jeff _really_ liked making out with Greg. He was an amazing kisser and he managed to get everything _so_ right that it was unfair. Seriously, how can one person hit every sweet spot with just a kiss?

Jeff pulled Greg closer in an attempt to throw him off his rhythm. He honestly wasn’t expecting it to work, but then again it wasn’t every day that you accidentally grind your bulge into your unsuspecting boyfriend’s crotch. Greg sighed into the kiss and he looped his arms around Jeff’s neck while Jeff moved his grip to Greg’s hips, then to his perfectly rounded ass.

Greg bit down on Jeff’s lip, tugging it as he pulled away. “Hey uh, you know that thing? That you said earlier?”

“I said a lot of things earlier.” Jeff didn’t take his gaze off Greg’s lips. He honestly didn’t care that they were cracked; with all this kissing it was sure to work like chapstick.

“I know, but there was one thing in particular.” Greg licked his lips, Jeff unconsciously doing the same. “About… _sex_.”

Jeff finally tore his eyes away from his lips and instead looked into his eyes. “Oh, yeah. I asked if you think about it and you said ‘yeah, what else am I supposed to jack off to?’ which, by the way, a great thing to think about.”

Greg rolled his eyes, unable to stop himself from smiling. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

“Oh yeah.” Jeff sighed, shutting his eyes, picturing it. _Oh my god… maybe not the best to think about when your boner is perfectly positioned to Greg’s crotch?_ He opened his eyes again. “Anyway, you were saying?”

There was a slight red tinge on Greg’s cheeks and he licked his lips again. “Well… I was wondering if, if you would like to… I don’t know… possibly start experimenting? In that area? Because, I don’t know, I just think it’d be… good? I mean, we both said we had thought about it…”

_I was_ not _expecting that_. Jeff thought, the blood suddenly disappearing from his head and instead to a… different head. Of course he would like to do that with Greg, though admittedly the thought scared him a little. He didn't want to fuck anything up or step over any boundaries accidentally. He quite liked where they were now but he was happy to go further.

“I, yes?” he finally managed to say after the words registered in his brain. He laughed a bit nervously. “You’d, you’d want that?”

Greg flicked the hair on the back of Jeff’s head. “Only if you want to, though.”

“Well, I mean, yeah. I would. Though I’m afraid I might mess up.” Jeff looked away sheepishly.

“Honey. You’re talking about messing up with _me_. Dude, I’d never even kissed anyone. If anyone’s gonna mess up, it’s me.” Greg grabbed Jeff’s chin and turned him so he was facing Greg again.

Jeff ran one hand down the length of Greg’s thigh and back up again. “I’m still gonna be very nervous.”

“Oh, dude. I’m… _always_ nervous. Feel this.” Greg grabbed Jeff’s hand from his thigh and placed it on his chest where his heart was.

“Damn, what a _strong_ chest,” Jeff swooned, rubbing his hand around the sweater-covered pec. Greg blushed a bit and he stopped Jeff’s hand from moving.

“That’s not what I meant, you dork.” Greg let his hand fall. “I meant feel my heartbeat.”

Jeff waited for a few seconds. “Wow, that’s fast. It’s ‘cause I’m here, isn’t it?”

Greg hung his head. “Yep. Totally.”

“Why else would it be that fast? Plus, you’re blushing.” Jeff grinned and ruffled Greg’s hair.

“You felt up my chest, of course I’m gonna blush.” Greg defended, looking up again.

“I touched it over your clothes. Our bare chests have literally been flat together and you’re telling me that me touching you over your clothes makes you horny?”

Greg scoffed. “That makes me sound like a thirty-year-old virgin.”

Jeff carefully watched Greg’s face as he snuck his hand down to the hem of his sweater and slipped it inside, dragging his fingers delicately up Greg’s torso. When Jeff’s fingers lightly brushed his nipple, his breathing hitched and looked into Jeff’s eyes. He bit his lip and Jeff’s eyebrow raised as he kept his fingers circling around the bud.

“Your hands are a bit cold.” The corners of Greg’s mouth twitched upwards. “Okay, kiss me already, damn.”

Jeff leaned in and their lips met. Jeff smirked into the kiss when he heard Greg sigh, but Greg just grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him deeper. Jeff felt Greg’s legs hook around his waist and pull him impossibly closer. This kiss wasn’t soft at all; this kiss was rough and needy. There was biting and tugging, and Jeff couldn’t get enough of it. His second hand snaked between them and into Greg’s sweater, where he began running circles around Greg’s nipples. A very soft groan escaped from Greg’s lips and Jeff wanted that to play on repeat in his head _forever_.

The sound of the door opening had the same effect as a cold bucket of water. They snapped up, letting go of one another immediately. Jeff turned around and sat next to Greg on his desk. His breath was short, and so was Greg’s. There was no way Sara, who opened the door, didn’t see that. His cheeks felt like an oven so he looked away from Sara.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” she said. “Mom wants to see you, Greg. She hasn’t seen you in more than a day, and I’m sure she’d _love_ to meet Jeff, especially right after you two were making out.”

“What—“

“Yeah, I saw you. Imagine if it wasn’t me who walked in.” she winked and left the door open as she left. Jeff’s heart dropped. What would’ve happened if it wasn’t Sara who had walked in? They’d have some _serious_ explaining to do: why they were making out, why Jeff’s hands were up Greg’s sweater, what’s wrong with them, also why Greg looks like that. He didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened to them.

“I guess I should go and talk to my mom.” Greg breathed. “Though maybe I should catch my breath first.”

Jeff exhaled out of his nose. “That’s probably a good idea.”

“Parents ruin everything. That was fuckin'  _hot_.” Greg fanned himself and looked at Jeff.

Jeff laughed. “Fuck yeah it was.”

“It was also a bit embarrassing for Sara to walk in on that.” Greg kept waving his hands around his face. “I mean, I do have a lock on my door.”

“Next time we should use that.” Jeff mused. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Greg’s eyebrow quirk up like it so often did. One of the things Jeff really loved about Greg was how expressive his eyebrows were. He had some immense eyebrow control. They moved up and down with almost every word he said, but you’d only really notice it if you were more than vaguely aware of it. Jeff loved it.

Jeff scooted himself off the desk. ”We should probably go out now. Dumb parents.”

“Ain’t that right. Hang on.” Greg took a deep breath and pinched his fingers together, then exhaled. “Okay. Let’s go.”

Jeff let Greg out of the room first and he followed, shutting the door behind him. He ran into Greg’s back, not realising he had stopped walking. Sara was leaning on the wall outside the door, a smirk on her face. “You boys having fun?”

“Shut up,” Greg scoffed. Jeff folded his arms and looked away. He _was_ having fun but Greg’s parents ruined it. He wasn’t at _all_ annoyed. Totally. Not even a little bit.

“Where are they?”

“The living room. Take your boyfriend with you. It’s about time he met your parents.” Sara pushed Jeff a little bit. Jeff pouted. _Okay, rude?_

Greg beckoned Jeff to follow and he did cautiously. He hadn’t thought about how meeting Greg’s parents would go. He had no idea what they were like, except that Greg’s dad was sometimes a dick and that Greg’s mom was from the midwest. He hadn’t met either of them since obviously, he’d only met Sara.

Jeff wasn’t prepared for the reaction Greg’s parents had when they saw Greg. They didn’t know that Greg was beaten up so their reaction was extremely valid. Though, he wasn’t expecting Greg’s dad to drop the empty mug of coffee onto the floor. Jeff winced and watched as Greg’s mom’s jaw dropped in shock and she ran up to Greg and grabbed him. They basically started interrogating him but he kept his mouth shut. His mom was caressing his face and blabbering on about how awful he looked while his dad was squinting at him, trying to work out exactly what had happened. When they calmed down just a little, they finally noticed Jeff.

“Who are you?” Greg’s dad asked.

Greg’s dad was quite tall, in fact, he was just a few inches shorter than Jeff. He looked kind of like an older version of Tom Selleck in _Terminal Island_ but with shorter hair. He also wasn’t as thin as Tom was, nor was he as attractive as Tom Selleck. His jaw wasn’t very defined, almost perfectly merged with his neck. He was dressed in a suit and his belly was bigger around the middle. His tie was also too long and it made the hairs on the back of Jeff’s neck stand up.

“Oh, I’m Jeff.” Jeff held out his hand. “I’m guessin' you’re Mr Proops?”

He took Jeff’s hand and shook it aggressively, squeezing a little tightly. “Yes, that’s me.”

“I’m Mrs Proops, but yew can call me Anna.” His mom said, a really thick midwestern accent coming through. “Gregory, is this yer friend?”

“Yeah, he’s my friend.” Greg looked at Jeff, a small hint of sadness in his eyes that only Jeff could pick up on.

It really sucked having to hide their relationship. Jeff couldn’t count the number of times he wanted to hug Greg, or hold his hand or even just kiss him in public. But Jeff knew that if they did those things they would get harassed in some way or another. He’d already experienced it before, and he didn’t want Greg to go through what he’d been through. Greg had already been hurt because of it and he didn’t need any more torture. There had to be some way to stop the team from getting to him, but Jeff didn’t know how. He ran from his bullies.

“Hello, Anna.” Jeff bowed his head just a little. She did that half-frown, half-smile thing that mothers do when they’re being ‘cheeky’. She wiggled her head a little and her eyes scrunched together. Jeff didn’t know how to feel. She was about a head shorter than Greg, and she had bright blonde hair with bangs that skimmed her brow. Her lipstick was a little messed up on the corners.

Mr Proops turned back to his son. “Did _he_ do this to you?”

“What?!” Greg blurted out, then made a disgusted face. “God no. Why on Earth would you think that? I _just_ said he’s my friend.”

“Gregory, language. Do _not_ use the Lord’s name in vain.” Anna warned him. Greg very subtly rolled his eyes. Jeff pursed his lips to stop himself from cracking up.

“Then who did?” his dad continued, still using an accusing tone.

“It seriously _doesn’t_ matter.” Greg waved it off, crossing his arms in front of him. Jeff looked at him curiously but said nothing. If Greg didn’t want them to know, then that’s what would happen.

They all stood in awkward silence for a few moments. Then Greg’s mom offered for Jeff to stay over for dinner, which he politely agreed to. It was probably too late to arrive home now, so he should probably call his dad and let him know. While he was on the phone Greg sat at the table, leaning on his hand with a bored look on his face. Sara came out of the hallway and winked at Jeff, which Greg frowned at.

Jeff then sat next to Greg at the table. “I’m stayin' over, by the way.”

“What?” Greg did a double-take.

“I’m stayin' over. Dad said to just stay over at this point since I’ve stayed so late.” Jeff repeated calmly. Then he lowered his voice. “I’ll just sleep in your bed with you, it’s no big deal.”

Sara sat across from them. “What are you two idiots whispering about?”

“First of all, rude,” Greg said. “Secondly can you please tell mom that Jeff is staying over?”

Sara frowned but got up anyway and walked to the kitchen, which in all honesty wasn’t that far from the dining room but it was far enough that they could talk at normal volume without anyone in the kitchen _really_ hearing what they said. Mr Proops was in the living room while Mrs Proops was in the kitchen, cooking. When Jeff was younger both his parents would cook. It was a little unfair for Greg’s dad to do that to his wife, but Jeff wasn’t going to ask questions.

“You know, I’m kind of surprised mom didn’t notice you’re wearing my shirt.” Greg gestured to Jeff. Jeff looked down even though he knew what he was wearing. “She bought that for me.”

“She was too busy examining your face.” Jeff pointed out. “‘Oh Gregory, what on Earth happened to yew?’”

Greg squinted his eyes. “Hilarious. I’m crying.”

“I’m just teasin'.” Jeff hung his arm around Greg’s shoulders. “You know I love you.”

Greg shrugged and Jeff rolled his eyes, going to move his arm from around Greg. Greg snickered and moved his leg so it was closer to Jeff’s. Sara came back from the kitchen with a frustrated look on her face. Her eyes were rolled so far back into her head Jeff almost thought she’d lost them.

“She says that Jeff can stay, but 'where is he going ta sleep? Oh dear, I’m gonna hafta get a spare mattress.’” Sara imitated their mom’s midwestern accent, sitting back down again. She rubbed circles into her temples and breathed in carefully.

Greg and Jeff shared a look. “It is a little gay to say you’ll sleep in my bed with me.”

Jeff tilted his head to the side. “We could say head to toe? That’s not gay.”

“You better keep your goddamn socks on.” Sara squinted. “Clean ones.”

“We won’t _actually_ sleep head to toe.” Greg scowled.

Suddenly, Mr Proops came into the room and sat at the head of the table. All three of them shut up immediately. “What are you kids talking about? Jeff, what are ya like? Do ya like sports?”

“I actually like reading, sir,” Jeff answered. “I don’t really do sport.”

“Oh, so you’re a pansy like Gregory huh?” he laughed as if it was a joke. Jeff laughed a little even though it wasn’t funny. He heard Greg huff next to him.

“If you say so, sir.” he shrugged.

Mr Proops leaned his elbows onto the table. “Ya go to the same school as Greg?”

“Yes, I do. We have homeroom together. That’s how we met.” Jeff said. The way he said it sounded like he was talking about them as a couple, and he swallowed dryly. Greg’s dad surely wouldn’t pick up on that, would he?

“How old are ya?” Mr Proops peered down his nose to Jeff.

“I’m eighteen, sir. I’m actually just a few days younger than Greg.” Jeff swallowed again. Okay, so Mr Proops didn’t pick up on that. Maybe Jeff was just being paranoid. He’d been paranoid about this kind of thing for years, it was natural.

“Huh. You planning to go to college?” Mr Proops traced his moustache. It was very unkempt and Jeff thought that he should probably get it trimmed.

“I don’t know yet, sir.”

He huffed. “Ya probably should.”

Jeff smiled a little but didn’t respond. Mr Proops finally turned away from Jeff and talked to Sara instead.

When Mrs Proops came into the room she was holding a tray with a bowl full of a mince mix, a bowl with fresh lettuce shredded in it, one with tomatoes, one with chicken bits, and one with cucumbers. Jeff didn’t know how she was managed to hold five bowls on one tray without succumbing to the weight of it. He couldn’t do that, he knew that for sure. She disappeared back into the kitchen and then came out a second time with five plates, each with a tortilla placed neatly on it. 

Mr Proops starting grabbing his fillings, not even waiting for his wife to join the table. Jeff sat quietly until she did, along with Greg and Sara. Once she was seated she started getting food, Jeff then did the same. He forgot to mention that he was a vegetarian, but it was alright. He didn’t _have_ to grab any meat. Instead, he would just have a lettuce, tomato and cucumber wrap. Hey, it was better than nothing.

“So,” Anna said. “How was ev’ryone’s day? Sara?”

“I went to Paul’s,” she said shortly, glancing at her dad. Jeff carefully folded his wrap and proceeded to start eating.

“Ya know, I don’t really like Paul.” Mr Proops responded. “He creeps me out.”

Sara set her jaw. “You don’t have to like him. He’s my friend.”

“Sure he is.” Greg coughed to cover up what he said. Jeff bit his lip to stop himself from smiling.

“What do yew mean Greg?” Anna raised an eyebrow.

Greg shrugged and shook his head. “Just speculating.”

Both Mr Proops and Mrs Proops turned to Sara again. She was glaring at Greg, and Jeff suspected she kicked him under the table from the grunt he made. Jeff exhaled out of his nose in place of a laugh and he looked at Greg, who rolled his eyes at him.

The conversation quickly changed topics but Jeff wasn’t following it. He had finished his food already, and he wasn’t that hungry. Mr Proops had three wraps in total somehow, and Sara had two. They were really good, and he did compliment Anna on her cooking skills. Sara was asked to wash up while Greg’s parents went into the living room. Greg and Jeff snuck back to Greg’s room, obviously. The case of where Jeff was going to sleep was still unknown to Greg’s mom, but that was okay. They were eighteen, they could figure it out.

Greg collapsed onto his bed and he lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. Jeff looked at him for one moment before closing the door and making sure to lock it, before climbing onto him and straddling his hips. Greg closed his eyes and reached his arms up to Jeff’s shoulders, pulling him down so he could kiss him. It was a short kiss but Jeff still loved it. Any kiss from Greg was a good one.

Greg gave Jeff a pair of his sweatpants to wear and offered a different, more comfortable shirt. When they were both feeling cosy Jeff switched off the light and they curled up in Greg’s bed together. Immediately they assumed the sleeping position they were in earlier, much to Jeff’s delight. Greg was resting his head on Jeff’s chest and Jeff had his arms around him, holding him like a teddy bear.

“I love you,” he whispered to Greg.

“Mm. I love you.” Greg muttered into his chest.

And they both drifted off to sleep.

Jeff climbed into his car and started the engine. His eyelids were heavy but he had to go home now. He’d spent the night at Greg’s, which was fun. He also met Greg’s parents, which was a little less fun. Last night Greg snuggled into him tightly, not letting go until the morning. It was kind of cute, but it also reminded Jeff of what happened to him. Being beaten up could leave scars, and not just physical ones. Jeff had experienced that before and he was _not_ ready to share that. So he just kept his arms around Greg protectively.

While he drove all he could think about was Greg. Seeing him like that was awful and Jeff just wanted to kiss the bruises away, and especially that fucking burn on his face. Then again, he didn’t have that many bruises, but there were definitely a few on his face and on his body. Whoever did _that_ was a monster, and Jeff had an idea of who it was. Anyway, it hurt Jeff’s heart badly. He’d pretended he was fine in front of Greg because he had to, but now he just wanted to hug him forever or punch the guys who did it. His fingers clenched the steering wheel and his jaw tightened.

The moment he got home and stepped out of the car he realised he was still wearing Greg’s clothes. He did have his jacket and thankfully he had the polaroids they took, but he’d left his second pair of jeans there and the shirt he was wearing yesterday when he got there. Obviously, Greg wouldn’t mind. But Jeff was starting to run out of pants.

He knocked on the door and waited. When Bill opened it he snorted and walked away.

“What?” Jeff asked innocently.

“Nothing. You just look dumb.”

“These aren’t my clothes, Bill.” Jeff kicked his shoes off.

Bill laughed. “I gathered that. Did you hook up with someone last night or what?”

“I didn’t hook up with anyone, asshole. These are Greg’s clothes.” he scoffed and shrugged his jacket off, folding it in his arms.

“Oh, and you didn’t hook up with him?” Bill raised an eyebrow. “Lame.”

“No, we didn’t hook up.” Jeff started leaving towards his room. “I just slept over at his house, that’s all we did.”

Jeff felt Bill’s eye roll from behind him and he wandered off to his room, shutting the door behind him. He threw his jacket onto his bed and stared at himself in the mirror. He looked cute in Greg’s clothes at least. Maybe he wouldn’t give these back. He knew that Greg wouldn’t give his jeans back, so he would have to go shopping. That might be what he would do today. He didn’t want to go to school, especially since Greg wouldn’t be there. And if he was there and he just so _happened_ to run into Chip or Drew…

Jeff messed up his hair and took the polaroids out of his pocket. Looking at them brought a smile onto his face. Now, whenever he was apart from Greg he could still look at him. Obviously, he was going to keep the most important one in his wallet: the one of them kissing. The others would end up scattered around the room either on the mirror or on his cork board. For now, they were going on his desk so he knew where they were, and he knew they would be safe there. There was no way Bill would enter Jeff’s room. He said it smelled funny and that he couldn’t place his finger on the smell. Jeff seriously had no idea how it was possible for his room to smell ‘funny’. He was cleaner than Bill.

The first thing he should probably do is take a shower. It had been more than a day and if he was going to go out later he didn't want to smell funky. He grabbed his shirt and sniffed it. It smelled like Greg. Well. That wasn’t much of an indication if he smelled bad or not, because Greg smelled _fantastic_. Either way, he was going to shower.

He ran into Bill in the hallway, quite literally. “Watch it, dumbass.”

“Sorry,” Bill said, putting emphasis on the last syllable. “Are you not going to school today? It’s nine o’clock.”

“Nope. I’m too tired. I’m goin’ out later though.”

“Didn’t get much sleep eh?” Bill winked and Jeff almost— _almost_ —threw his clothes at him. Jeff took a deep breath.

“No, I slept fine. I’m just tired,” he said definitively and closed the door to the bathroom so he could have a shower in peace. This time, he locked the door. Instantly he turned on the shower but he didn’t get in yet. He had to wait for it to be the right temperature first since he didn’t want to have it too hot or too cold.

“I should change my name to Goldilocks.” he mused quietly, pulling his shirt off and placing it neatly on the vanity.

Steam started billowing out from the shower so Jeff removed the last of his clothes and climbed inside. It cascaded over his skin and warmed him up immediately. Now he didn’t want to get out, ever. He lazily grabbed the soap and ran it over himself, as one does in the shower.

When he got out he tried to go as quickly as he could so he wouldn’t start shivering from the cold. It wasn’t that cold, but usually, after a hot shower, the air was a bit fresh. He threw his clothes on after hastily patting himself down with his towel and looked in the mirror. His hair was… yikes. It didn’t really matter, but he’d never worn it parted down the middle before. He grabbed the hair dryer and blasted it into his face at first before fixing his hair.

A loud banging came from the door. “Hurry up, Jeff! I need to shower too, y’know.”

“Go away, Bill,” Jeff said nonchalantly. Now his hair was neat but that wasn’t him. He ruffled it up and flashed a smile to the mirror. He then scooped up his other clothes and got out of the bathroom, passing by an impatient Bill. “Hey, Billy.”

“Don’t _ever_ call me that again.” Bill made a disgusted face and disappeared.

Jeff threw his—well, Greg’s—clothes onto his bed and grabbed his wallet, making sure he had money with him. He was about to leave his room again when he stopped, turned around and grabbed the Polaroid before tucking it safely into his wallet. At the front door, he pulled his boots on and grabbed a different jacket before leaving. He wasn’t going to be out all day, but a few hours would be nice. The last time he went into the city by himself he got grounded because it was the middle of the night. Since it was daytime, he wouldn’t get grounded. Unless his dad found out he was skipping school. But Jeff didn’t think there was any way he could know.

The drive into the city was smooth. He was _so_ glad Bill gave him the car for his birthday. It was the best birthday present he could’ve gotten, apart from the bookmarks Greg made, which were super cute. But this car was amazing. He’d been driving it for a year or two already, and he probably had more miles on it than Bill. Getting this for his birthday also meant he wouldn’t have to save up and buy his own car in a few years. If he treated this one well it would last a while, which he definitely wanted.

Honestly, Jeff loved going out alone. Obviously, the next best thing was going out with Greg, but sometimes he just liked to explore on his own. He spent an hour at the library, browsing the novels and ducking out of the way of an old woman who didn’t like him. They had a run in last time he was there. It wasn’t pretty. After the library, he walked to a music store, where he both admired the instruments and browsed the records. He used to play the guitar, funnily enough. He wanted to try and learn again, but first, he had to get money and the money he had today was for clothes. Another time.

Right as Jeff stepped onto the sidewalk outside the store someone whizzed past him on a bike, almost running him over. The guy skidded to a stop and looked back at Jeff. Jeff’s jaw almost fell off his face. No. Not here. Not right now. This was the _worst_ time for this to happen. Jeff had moved schools for a reason and that reason was staring him dead in the face. Jeff couldn’t feel his heartbeat; was he dying? Did he die? Was this hell?

“Jeff?” The guy pointed at him and Jeff wanted to run away, but he put on a mask and pointed back.

“Mike?” His voice was high-pitched and unnatural. “I haven’t seen you in… a while.”

Mike climbed off his bike and held it by the handlebars. “Yeah, you moved schools so suddenly. How’ve you been, man?”

“Oh, _great_ ,” Jeff said mostly through his teeth. “And you?”

“Hey man, it’s our senior year. I’m fantastic!” Mike nodded as if he was listening to some music, but nothing was playing. Jeff was quite uneasy. Either Mike was pretending he forgot about Jeff being gay, or he actually forgot. Jeff sincerely hoped it was the latter.

“Do you want to go get some coffee? We can talk there!” Mike kept talking, not really noticing Jeff’s silence.

Jeff nodded stiffly. He didn’t want to. But his body was apparently saying ‘yep. Go for it.’

“Splendid! Come on, I know the _best_ coffee place.”

Then he was being dragged down the street, arm in arm with Mike. Mike was about a foot shorter than Jeff. In freshman year they were roughly the same height, but it seemed now that Mike grew maybe two inches in four years. He had hair that went down to his chin and a _beard,_ which was horrifying. He also had a bigger nose now and he was extraordinarily hairy. His fingers had hair. Jeff tried his best not to make a face. Clearly, puberty didn’t do him any favours.

“Look, there it is! _The Red Rose_.” Mike positioned his bike against a pole and looped a chain around it. “Come on, let’s go in.”

Jeff was still quite uneasy. But not he was uncomfortable. He wanted to experience _The Red Rose_ for the first time with Greg, not with Mike. Mike was an asshole. Greg was a sweetheart. Big difference. But still, Jeff was forced inside and into a booth. Mike was somehow still talking. How could someone talk for that long and not notice the other party wasn’t interested? Jeff wanted to leave. So badly.

“—anyway, Jeff. Tell me about you! How’ve you been? How’s Bill? Oh! How’s your dad?” he was very twitchy; Jeff didn’t like it. “Who’re your new friends? Oh! Even better. Do you have a boyfriend?”

Cottonmouth, that’s what it felt like. No stomach, cottonmouth, where’d his leg go, his fingers were backwards, neck sinking into his shoulders, everything was wrong. What was happening? This was _not_ the Mike Jeff knew back in freshman year.

In freshman year, Mike was Jeff’s best friend. They did everything together: from sleepovers to pranking the girls in their gym class. Jeff trusted him, and when he found out that he was gay, he told Mike. Suddenly, Mike wasn’t there. The seat next to him in class was empty, he had no partner in crime for gym. Within a day, people were standing at least a foot away from Jeff as if he was cancer. Suddenly, Jeff had no friends and a lot of enemies. If people weren’t standing as far as they could from him they were tripping him, pushing him, kicking him and taping things to his back. They scratched hurtful things onto his locker. When Jeff next saw Mike, it was like seeing a stranger. Mike wanted nothing to do with Jeff. And Mike was prepared to get rid of him for good.

“Excuse me?” Jeff stared at him as if he had two heads, suddenly snapping back to reality. Though, Jeff’s vision was kinda blurry right now so he did look a bit like an alien.

“What?”

Jeff still stared. “Could you repeat what you said?”

“I asked how your dad was? You know, how has he been—“

“—after that, you idiot,” Jeff said coldly.

Mike squinted for a few moments. “Oh! The boyfriend thing. Wait, are you not gay anymore or something?”

“Ugh.” Jeff ran his hands down his face. “No, Mike. I’m still gay. I’m just wonderin’ why the fuck you care if I have a boyfriend or not. You do remember what you fuckin’ did to me right?”

“Geez, I’m sorry.”

“You don’t sound sorry.” Jeff snapped. “That shit hurt. I don’t like you.”

Mike sucked his lips in. “I was kinda hoping you would’ve been over that by now.”

“Well, you thought wrong.” Jeff laughed without humour. “I don’t need this. To answer your questions, I’m fine, Bill’s fine, Dad’s fine, you don’t know my new friends and that’s how it’s going to stay, and yes, I do have a boyfriend. I love him very much. Now, if you don’t mind I’m going to leave.”

Jeff just about started to get up when Mike stopped him. Jeff gave him the coldest glare he could manage.

“Wait, just hear me out.”

“Why should I listen to you?”

“Just listen, okay?” Mike pleaded. Jeff sat back down and folded his arms. “Okay. I know I hurt you. Badly. Both physically and… mentally. But I know better now. I’m sorry I was an asshole.”

Jeff waited a few moments. “That’s all you had to say? No, ‘sorry I told the whole school you were gay!’ no, ‘sorry for punching your face in and breaking your nose!’ None of that? Really?”

“I just said sorry for being an asshole!” Mike held up his arms. “What more do you want?”

“I want to leave. Fuck you.” Jeff smiled sweetly and got up. He walked out the door. For a few peaceful moments, he breathed in the fresh air. His entire body was seething. First, he was uncomfortable, then he was just angry. And now he was angrier because Mike came running out after him.

“Jeff!”

Jeff clenched his fists. “What! Let me fucking leave!”

“No! I want to talk to you!” Mike growled, his neck craned upwards so he could look Jeff in the eye. For a short guy, he was a little threatening. But not to Jeff. “Tell me everything!”

“For the last time, _no_. I’ve had enough. I didn’t want to see you ever again, _that_ is why I moved schools. You are the reason I moved to the school I’m at now, and consequentially the reason I met my wonderful boyfriend who cares about me. _You_ don’t care about me and you never did. If you cared about me, you would’ve been there for me three years ago when I came out to you, expecting support from my best friend. If you cared about me, you wouldn’t have told the whole school that secret and you wouldn’t have cornered me, beaten me up, and left me to bleed out and die. I have had enough of your shit, Michael, and I don’t plan on seeing you ever again, after today.”

Then he turned and left.

  



	12. Are We Already Acting Like A Married Couple?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara forces Greg to go to school, where he finds out Drew was suspended. Then, he and Jeff decide to get a little bit closer.

“I don’t _want_ to go to school.” Greg hissed at Sara, who was currently dragging him out of his bed by the arm. He still felt like shit. Okay, he didn’t feel horrible. He could probably last a full day of school. But that didn’t mean he wanted to.

“I don’t care, Greg, you _have_ to go!” Sara shot back. “It’s Tuesday! You’ve almost missed a week!”

Greg groaned and continued struggling. “Mom said I could stay home as long as I needed!”

“I’m getting… sick of seeing… your face… EVERY DAY.” Sara pulled him up with one final heave and ended up falling backwards. Greg fell out of his bed onto the floor, his glasses toppling off his face. Ever since the _incident_ , he’d been using his backup pair of glasses, and they didn’t really fit his face. They were also giant Elvis-esque glasses. He reached for them and put them back on. 

“Okay. Fine. I’ll go to school. And if you’re so sick of me I’ll just go to Jeff’s house or something.” Greg rolled over and sat up, glaring at Sara. “Now can you get the fuck out of my room so I can get dressed?”

She only smirked and waved goodbye to him as she scooted backwards out of his room. Standing up, he slammed the door closed as close to her feet as he could and turned to his closet so he could get dressed. He was already shirtless, so that would make it quicker and easier. Without thinking too hard he grabbed any old shirt and pulled it over his body, then a sweater. Once again he’d fallen asleep wearing jeans and he decided he was too lazy to change them. They were jeans, it didn’t really matter. No one would know that he slept in them unless he told them. Was he going to do that? He didn’t know. He usually said a lot of things without thinking. 

Sara offered to drive him to school, which he gladly accepted. It was only the middle of October but it was starting to cool down a little bit and sometimes the mornings were a bit fresh. By the middle of the day he would take off his sweater—or he wouldn’t, depending on how lazy he was feeling. He had a hunch it was the latter.

“I’m guessing you’re going to Jeff’s after school?” Sara asked tiredly. It almost sounded like a sigh. 

“You got a problem with that?” he scrunched his mouth to the side and crossed his ankle over his knee.

Sara flipped down the sun visor. “No, I just think you spend more time there than at your own bloody house. You guys see each other a _lot_. All day at school and then most days afterwards.”

“Well, I-I love him a lot.” Greg’s mouth went a little dry and he ran his hand through his hair. “I want to be around him.”

“You’ve only been dating for a month, right?” she hit the sun visor back up so it was out of her sight. 

“Yeah, so?” Greg narrowed his eyebrows. “It’s my relationship, not yours. You have Paul anyway.”

“Hey!” she snapped. “I’m not in a relationship with Paul.”

“But you’re fucking,” Greg said matter-of-factly. “I bet he’s gonna ask that you be ‘exclusive’ soon. Just you fucking wait.”

Sara clenched her jaw. “You don’t know that.”

Greg stayed quiet but only because he was sick of arguing with her. They were stuck in the car and the air was already insufferable. He uncrossed his ankle and looked out the window instead. He still felt a little insulted after Sara’s comment. It shouldn’t have affected him this much. 

“Actually, I won’t even be home this afternoon so it won’t matter if you aren’t there.” Sara finally said after a while.

“Why? Going to _Paul’s?_ ” Greg smirked involuntarily. It slipped out, honestly. He just knew that whenever she went to Paul’s it was so they could fuck, it was the only thing they did together. Greg only knew that because one time Paul made the mistake of coming to Greg’s house instead of Sara going to his, and Greg was thankful he had something to stuff into his ears. He was sure that Paul would ask for them to be exclusive soon.

“No, I’m not going to _Paul’s_. Fucking let it go.” she rolled her eyes for a second time, taking one hand off the steering wheel. “I’m looking to move out soon.”

The few seconds that it took to register in Greg’s brain were painfully silent. 

“Greg?” 

Greg shook himself out of the trance he was in. “Oh, sorry. What?”

“I’m looking to move out soon.”

“I heard you.”

“And you’re not answering me,” she said. “There’s an apartment that I’m going to look at this afternoon.”

“You’re leaving me all alone with Mom and Dad, you sick bitch.” Greg crossed his arms. He wasn’t actually that mad, but he wanted to pretend he was. Sara moving out was a cool thing. If only he could move out. He knew Dad wanted him to at least finish school first.

Sara laughed. “Get fucked, idiot.”

“You’re mean.”

“You called me a bitch!” Sara retorted, finally turning into the school parking lot. 

Then, it sunk in that Greg was going back to school. They were literally driving right where _it_ happened. His mouth went dry and he fidgeted in his seat. He would have to see Drew and Chip. At least he got to see his friends, but Chip and Drew were probably walking around unfazed and satisfied. He didn’t even realise the car had stopped until Sara yanked his door open from the outside.

He jumped about a foot, probably, with his hand over his heart. Quickly, he looked at himself in the rearview mirror. It definitely wasn’t as bad as it was on Thursday, but it wasn’t the most pretty he’d been. At least his glasses mostly hid the black eye he had. The burn on his face made him uncomfortable, as well as the bruise on his jaw. 

“You know, maybe I shouldn’t go to school. I don’t think—you know, I’m still really tired—”

Sara groaned, interrupting him. “Oh my fucking god. Get out of the fucking car.”

She reached in and grabbed his arm, pulling him out just like she pulled him out of bed that morning. He stumbled out onto his feet, his bag tangled around his legs. 

“Sara I look like actual shit, everyone’s gonna know I was beaten up, they’re gonna see me and laugh at me—“

“—I literally don’t care. Get out and go, you’ll be fine. Flip them off or something. Wink, I don’t know. Flirt a little, make them uncomfortable.” she suggested, exasperated. Greg swallowed, stepping out of his bag straps and picking his bag up.

“Hey, Greg! You’re back!” 

Greg turned to the voice and saw Ryan walking up to them from his own car. His face immediately softened and he smiled.

“See? You’ll be fine.” Sara clapped him once on the back and got back in her car, driving off quickly. She almost drove over his foot, but he jumped out of the way quickly enough. Ryan enveloped Greg in a quick hug before clapping their hands together in a cool handshake.

“The way Brad described it made it sound like you died,” Ryan laughed. “But you look as good as new. Well, save for a few rough spots.”

“Gee, thanks.” Greg rolled his eyes but his grin was stuck on his face. He hadn’t realised how much he missed Ryan. They started walking into the school, Ryan’s arm around his shoulders. Immediately they walked towards their table and found they were the first ones there. They both sat down, bags still on their backs.

Greg leaned onto the table. “Anything interesting happen while I was gone?”

“Honestly? No.” Ryan said in monotone and puckered his lips. “Brad told us on Thursday what happened to you two, and we had to physically restrain Jeff from running off and trying to punch them back. If he did that—“

“—he would’ve been snapped in half.” Greg finished for him. “I saw him that afternoon and he told me.”

“Jeff wasn’t at school on Friday, oh! Yesterday Chip showed up to the table.”

Greg made a vomiting action and stayed silent.

“Yeah, he came up and tried to ‘apologise.’” Ryan started laughing. “Said it was all Drew’s idea and that he honestly didn’t want to do it. I told him to fuck off. He was sporting a wonderful bruise though, I don’t know where it came from. He looked like half a racoon.”

Greg squinted, looking to his left. “I wonder.”

Almost like it was on cue, coming up on his left was the suspect he had in mind, otherwise known as his handsome boyfriend Jeffrey. Jeff waved enthusiastically and jogged a little so he’d get there quicker.

“Hey,” he dragged out the word and greeted Greg with a kiss on the cheek, sliding in next to him. “I missed you.”

“It’s been three days,” Ryan muttered. “You’re literally suffocating me with your gross flirting.”

Greg narrowed his eyes but ignored Ryan, instead opting for the better option of kissing Jeff, who kissed him back with a grin. Then Greg cleared his throat.

“Jeffrey, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Gregory.”

Ryan made a puking motion and a puking noise.

“I just heard that Chip has a black eye. Do you happen to know who did it?” he ran his fingers through Jeff’s hair and down the nape of his neck. Jeff’s looked up for a few moments innocently.

“Nope.”

Greg ruffled Jeff’s hair. “Are you sure?”

“I’m very sure. Hey, do you wanna see what’s in my wallet?” Jeff changed the topic suddenly. Greg followed his topic change excitedly, choosing to forget about the Chip thing. He knew that it was Jeff anyway. 

Jeff pulled his wallet from his bag and opened it up, showing Greg what was inside. Immediately Greg’s heart melted and he held his hands over his heart. He looked back up at Jeff and made puppy dog eyes.

“What? Let me see, will ya?” Ryan said, craning his neck. 

“You sure it won’t be too suffocating?” Jeff teased, showing him anyway. He squinted at it. It was the Polaroid of them kissing. Greg had his own version back at home in his own wallet. The rest of the ones he kept were safe in a journal in his desk drawer. 

“When did you even have time to do that? And where did you get a camera?” 

Greg grabbed the wallet back and admired the photo. “I stole Sara’s camera. I don’t think she knows yet because she hasn’t asked me about using up all her film.”

The bell rang throughout the school, cutting short their conversation. Greg didn’t think it was time to go already, but time flies when you’re having fun. He gave Jeff his wallet back and he tucked it safely into his bag. Then Jeff got up and they both started walking to their homeroom, Ryan also departing quite quickly. He seemed a little annoyed that morning, and yeah, Greg and Jeff were being grossly cute, but Colin wasn’t there to balance it out. Greg didn’t like assuming things, but that was most likely why he was grouchy. He still found it highly amusing that he had a crush on Colin, but he clearly hadn’t done anything about it yet. Maybe he should ask Colin what he thought of Ryan, then act as a cupid. That would be cute.

“What are you thinkin’ about?” Jeff nudged Greg’s side.

“Ryan’s crush.” Greg mused, looking at Jeff. 

“Who is it?” Jeff leaned close, his voice rising an octave. Greg raised an eyebrow. 

“Surely I’ve told you already?” he said. “I swear I told you.”

Jeff cocked his head to the side like a puppy. “In my defence? I forget a lot of things.”

“Fair enough.” Greg laughed. He looked around, making sure that no one was around to hear what he was about to say. “Ryan’s crush is Colin.”

Jeff squinted. “I don’t remember you tellin’ me that.”

“Oh,” Greg shrugged. “Well, now you know.”

“Does Colin like him back?” Jeff asked quietly. They walked into their homeroom, where they could no longer talk freely about their gay friend. “Are they gonna get together?”

As they sat down Greg glanced from side to side. “I don’t know. I want them to.”

“Secret mission! We have to find out if Colin has a crush.” Jeff held up a finger and grinned. Greg knew that he was avoiding using pronouns. 

“Yes!” Greg clapped once. “We have to do this.”

“They would be so cute together,” whispered Jeff. “They have great chemistry together, I can tell.”

Greg nodded. “Mmhmm.”

“I don’t know Colin that well, it’s up to you.” Jeff patted Greg’s shoulder. “Are you up to the challenge, young grasshopper?”

“First of all, I’m older than you so I can’t be your young grasshopper.” Greg grinned. “But yes, I am more than willing to play Cupid.”

“Alright. It’s a deal. Operation get Colin and Ryan to hook up.” Jeff held out his hand and Greg shook it, accepting the challenge. Well, it wasn’t really a challenge. All he really had to do was ask Colin how he felt about Ryan. If it was positive and romantic, he had to set them up. He would have to construct a plan with Jeff because he was much more experienced in the romance world. 

Mr Anderson came in shortly after and greeted the class much too enthusiastically for a Tuesday morning. Greg leaned onto his hand and gazed lazily at the board behind him. He hadn’t missed Mr Anderson in the three days he missed school. Sure he was a cool teacher and he was okay with the gay thing, but sometimes he was so _boring_. Greg almost fell asleep, but luckily the bell rang and Jeff dragged him up and out of his chair. They were just about out of the room when Mr Anderson stopped then.

“Wait, Greg, may I speak to you for a moment? Jeff is welcome to stay,” he said. Greg dragged himself back to Mr Anderson’s desk. Jeff followed him and leaned on his hands on the desk.

“Yes, Clive?” Greg teased. Mr Anderson narrowed his eyes but ignored his comment.

“Are you okay?”

Jeff hung his head. “How did I not see that coming?”

“Uh, I’m fine sir.”

“You don’t look okay. You have a black eye.” Mr Anderson clasped his hands together. “I heard about what happened last Wednesday and I think you should know it was reported to the principal.”

Greg didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything. He felt Jeff’s eyes on him.

Mr Anderson twitched in his seat. “I strongly feel that you should stay home for a few more days so you can be properly rested, but if you feel like you are able to come to school that’s alright. Drew has been suspended until at least Thursday.”

“I swear I didn’t have anything to do with that,” Jeff held his hands up in defence the moment Greg turned and looked at him with an expression that hopefully showed bewilderment. “I only punched Chip, I didn’t snitch on anyone no matter how much they deserved it.”

“You punched Chip? As in Chip Esten?” Mr Anderson furrowed his brow. “What on Earth did you do that for?”

Jeff cocked his head to the side as if Mr Anderson was dumb. “He hurt Greg?”

Greg unconsciously smiled at Jeff. Apart from how romantic Jeff was—if you could call punching someone romantic—there were a lot of thoughts running through Greg’s mind. He didn’t know where to start. First of all, Drew was suspended. It had to have been one of his friends since no one else knew what happened. Was it Brad? Ryan? Colin? There was no way of knowing. Secondly, Mr Anderson thought he should be at home. Did he still look that bad? He knew it was awful but it had almost been a week and he was icing the bruises every day. They should definitely have calmed down by now.

Finally, Jeff definitely did punch Chip, but he didn’t really care about that anymore. For a moment Greg wanted to crawl into a ball and sleep. Actually, it was way more than a moment. He wanted to go home. 

“You can go now.” he barely heard Mr Anderson, and he nodded slightly, turning out of the room. He turned the corner out of the doorway and leaned against the wall. Jeff appeared in front of him not even a second afterwards.

“Babe?” Jeff waved his hand in front of his face. This time he looked up. “You ok? What’s up?”

“Uh... I don’t actually know. I’m just confused.” he laughed a little. Instead of talking he snuggled into Jeff, snaking his arms around him. He just wanted to be close to him and sleep. It hadn’t even been first class. Jeff hugged him back tightly.

“Hey… It’s a good thing class has started,” he said quietly after a minute of staying in their hug. “People won’t see us, and it’s already too late to get there in time.”

Greg sighed. “I hate having to hide. It fucking sucks.”

“I’m sorry.” Jeff rubbed small circles onto his shoulder. “I hate it too.”

Greg craned his head around so he could see Jeff’s face. “Don’t be sorry. Instead, let’s get out of here. I want to go home.”

Jeff laughed. “You sure?”

“As long as Sara thinks I’m at school I’m good.” Greg blinked slowly and slid his hands down to Jeff’s butt. “Actually... can we go to your house?”

“If you keep doing that we sure as hell can.” Jeff quirked his eyebrow up and cupped Greg’s jaw. “I love you.”

“I love—“

Jeff cut him off by kissing him quickly, before looking back at him with what Greg could only describe as a mix between bedroom eyes and puppy dog eyes. So, how Ryan said Jeff usually looks at him. Greg looked down the hallway for a moment before kissing him back again. Greg heard Mr Anderson coming out of the classroom they were just in, huff in both amusement and annoyance and walk off, but he didn’t care because Mr Anderson was okay with it.

“Let’s get out of here,” Jeff whispered when they stopped kissing, grabbing Greg’s hand off his ass and pulling him down the hallway. Greg let himself go with it because it meant he got to go to Jeff’s house and cuddle with him and make out with him for the rest of the day. Which was his favourite way to pass the time.

 

Honestly, Greg liked Jeff’s house more than his own. It wasn’t just because it had Jeff in it, though that was one of the main reasons. It was because it was so much cleaner than his own and it smelled better. He knew the house like the back of his hand now that he’d been dating Jeff for approximately a month. The first time he’d been there they weren’t dating, and same with the second time. Though the second time they just made out the entire time, so it was close enough. 

Jeff hugged Greg from behind while he was at the kitchen sink getting himself a glass of water. They’d only just arrived back from school after Greg decided he couldn’t deal with it. Thankfully Jeff’s older brother wasn’t home and his dad was at work, so they had the house to themselves. 

“Hi honey,” Jeff grinned against his cheek. 

“Hey, darling.” Greg purred, drinking from his glass. “So… are we already acting like a married couple?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Jeff held Greg’s waist and kissed the back of his neck. The feeling lingered on Greg’s neck and he felt his face warm up just a bit. They’d been dating for a month, that shouldn’t make him feel so flustered by now. To try and hide his embarrassment he drank from the glass until it was all gone, then he placed it back in the sink. Within Jeff’s grasp, he wriggled around so he was facing his boyfriend. 

“You’re cute when you’re embarrassed.” Jeff’s fingers tapped rhythmically at his hips. 

“How’d you know I was blushing?” Greg looked at him in wonder, leaning back against the counter. 

“Your ears were red.”

“Oh, right,” he said, laughing a bit. “Duh.”

Jeff smiled at Greg and Greg fell in love again. Fuck, his smile was gorgeous. It made Greg’s heart hurt because of how sweet Jeff was. He looped his arms around Jeff’s neck and pulled him closer into a hug. Jeff moved his hands down onto Greg’s ass, and Greg giggled a little. 

“That feels... interesting.” he said into Jeff’s shoulder. “I like it. You should do it more often.”

“That’s one way to describe it,” Jeff responded, squeezing his butt a little. Greg’s breath hitched—for some bizarre reason—and he stepped up onto his tiptoes so he was almost as tall as Jeff, leaning his weight onto his boyfriend. Jeff pulled his head back and looked at Greg with an amused look. Greg let himself back down and grinned at him. 

“Face it, you’ll never be as tall as me.” Jeff laughed.

Greg shrugged. “I’m okay with that.”

Jeff’s eyes flickered between Greg’s lips and his eyes a few times before Jeff pressed their lips together. Immediately Greg moved closer, their bodies now flushed together completely. Greg parted his lips and Jeff ran his tongue through them, which made Greg weak in the knees. Thankfully he was being held up by two people at the moment, so he _obviously_ wouldn’t fall. 

Greg thought he’d be nervous when Jeff slipped his hands up into his shirt since he was the other night when he stayed over. Albeit hot, _that_ was nerve-wracking, because Jeff had never touched his nipples before and Greg was the type to get nervous over that. But surprisingly he was fine now. More than fine, actually. Jeff’s fingers dragged slowly up his back and caressed around his shoulder blades. His body shivered; fucking hell, he might just be horny. 

Greg moved his hand to cup Jeff’s jaw, the realisation that he was horny enticing him, and he pushed deeper into the kiss. Jeff clearly noticed the movement and nipped at Greg’s lips. This was like when Greg stayed over for the first time, only a couple days after they made it official. It was getting heated; Greg’s cheeks were incredibly warm and Jeff’s hands were cold against his skin. It was thrilling to say the least.

Jeff slid his hand down to Greg’s waist once again and held it for a few seconds, before picking up Greg’s leg and holding it just under his knee. Greg honestly felt like he was both in a movie or dancing on a stage, but he was simply making out with the cutest boy in town. He smiled into the kiss and leaned forward onto Jeff, once again stepping up onto the tips of his toes. He honestly didn’t know where his body ended and where Jeff’s began, he couldn’t seem to figure it out since they were so close together. 

They did eventually have to stop to breathe, but even then they didn’t completely stop. Their foreheads were pressed together and Greg started roaming his hands around Jeff’s body. They went down his arms then to his sides, then into his shirt and up his back. Then, one down to the small of his back where the back of his belt was. 

“Do you like holding my leg up or something?” Greg teased once he’d caught his breath. 

Jeff laughed. “I mean…”

“It makes me feel like a dancer,” Greg admitted. “So don’t stop.”

“Do you think I’d be able to pick you up?” Jeff asked suddenly. Greg pulled his head back a little so he could see Jeff a little easier. 

“There’s only one way to find out.”

Greg moved both hands so they were on Jeff’s shoulders, then pushed himself up off the leg he was standing on. He felt Jeff’s other hand move quickly to catch Greg’s leg under the knee, and Greg then hooked his ankles together around Jeff and held his hands behind Jeff’s neck. 

“Well, I can,” said Jeff. 

Greg laughed. “You can. You’re very strong.”

“You’re not that heavy.” Jeff moved his hands to Greg’s butt since his ankles were hooked together. “You’re not as light as a feather, but you aren’t fat either.”

“I’m perfectly proportioned.”

“Mmhmm.” Jeff hummed. 

Greg trailed a finger down the front of Jeff’s body and placed a flat palm on his chest. “Guess what?”

“What?” The side of Jeff’s mouth quirked up.

“I love you.” 

Jeff kissed him on the tip of the nose. “I. Love. You.”

“You’re cute,” Greg said. “A dork.”

Jeff’s cheeks turned a little pink but he grinned. Greg smiled as well, kissing Jeff on the lips. He slipped his hand down the back of Jeff’s shirt as they kissed. Jeff’s skin was warm underneath his shirt and Greg moved his other hand so it was also down Jeff’s shirt. 

“You wanna… go to my… room?” Jeff mumbled between kisses. Greg nodded eagerly and stopped kissing him so he could be let down, except Jeff didn’t let go of him and started carrying him to his room. Greg looked around in amazement.

“Is this what it’s like being tall?”

Jeff laughed. “It is, though we have don’t have the luck of being carried around.”

“This was your decision, not mine.” Greg hugged Jeff and rested his chin on Jeff’s shoulder. A few moments later they were in Jeff’s room, and Jeff kicked the door closed with his foot. Greg watched it close with a slam and then he saw the roof as Jeff had let him down onto the bed. Jeff’s face quickly appeared above him, and he was on all fours above Greg. Greg’s legs were still around Jeff so he let them go.

“Hey there.” Jeff grinned down at him.

Greg couldn’t help but smile back. “Hello.”

Jeff’s hand trailed down Greg’s side slowly and up into his shirt. Greg flinched just a little because for a split second he thought Jeff was going to tickle him, but thankfully he didn’t. Now, all Greg was thinking about was their tickle fight.

“So I know I’m on top of you and you’re secretly really flustered about that, but how are you?” Jeff said as he adjusted himself so he was lying down on Greg. He slipped both hands inside Greg’s shirt and it exposed his stomach. Jeff was probably halfway down Greg’s body and his face was a lot closer to Greg’s crotch than it usually was. He rested his chin on Greg’s exposed stomach.

_Pretty fucking horny, to be honest._ he thought to himself. Then he scoffed. “I’m not flustered at all.”

“Not even if I… do this?” Greg could _hear_ the smirk in his voice.

Greg’s breathing hitched when he felt Jeff’s fingers on his nipples. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at Jeff. Greg had an obvious blush on his face, he just knew it.

“Is that okay?” Jeff asked softly, his head rolling to the side a little.

“Of course, you’ve done that before,” Greg assured him. He was definitely okay with it, it just caught him off guard. 

Jeff then kissed his abdomen very lightly, and once he heard no complaint from Greg he did it again. Greg breathed in deeply and reached down to touch Jeff’s soft hair. It was the messiest thing about Jeff but that made him cuter than humanly possible. His fingers were still lightly touching Greg’s nipples and Greg just _knew_ that Jeff could feel his erection right underneath his chest. Why wouldn’t he be able to?

“Jeff…” Greg sighed. Jeff looked up and blinked innocently. “What’s the time?”

“Seriously? That’s what you’re asking me?” Jeff giggled. He looked across the room to the clock on his wall. “It’s around nine-thirty. Why?”

“No reason. I was just curious.” he shrugged, grinning cheekily. Jeff rolled his eyes and pinched Greg’s nipple. Greg’s breathing hitched once again and this time Jeff grinned cheekily. One of his hands moved from Greg’s chest down to where Jeff’s head was. It rested on Greg’s abdomen. 

_This isn’t any different from when Jeff is holding your hips, why are you nervous you dumbass?_ Greg groaned at himself in his head. He didn’t have much time to think about it some more because Jeff was pressing kisses all over his stomach. Suddenly, Jeff latched onto Greg’s stomach and began sucking a hickey into the skin there. Greg let his head fall back. Right when he did that the hand that was resting on his stomach moved ever so slightly to the edge of Greg’s—well, he was wearing Jeff’s—jeans. The tips of Jeff’s fingers were just inside the hem.

Jeff finally removed his mouth from Greg’s stomach, apart from when he carefully licked around the hickey. Greg looked up and looked drunkenly at Jeff.

“Now Drew definitely won’t see it.” Jeff joked, leaning on his elbow just to the side of Greg’s body. Greg breathed out.

“True. Have I ever told you how good you are at that?” he cocked his head to the side. 

Jeff thought about it for only a moment. “A couple of times.”

Greg nodded. “Well, you’re amazing at it. And I honestly never thought my stomach would be where I would ever get one.”

“There’s a first time for everything, y’know?” Jeff quirked his eyebrow up and Greg looked down to where Jeff’s fingers were resting at his waistband. Jeff wasn’t trying to just ‘go for it’, he looked perfectly content with the level they were at now. Greg then looked back into Jeff’s eyes.

“Jeff?” Greg licked his lips. 

“Greg?” Jeff had a slightly pink tinge to his cheeks, but he was looking at Greg bedroom eyes. _Woof._

“You know how last week when you stayed over we had that conversation about sex?” His voice was surprisingly calm even though his heart was thumping. Jeff nodded with the hints of a smile on his face. 

“I mean, only if you want to.” Jeff’s fingers edged a bit further into Greg’s pants. Greg nodded and ran his hand through Jeff’s hair, leaning down to kiss him. Jeff moved to meet him halfway, their lips crashing together on an almost needy way. Kissing Jeff helped calm the nerves that Greg suddenly had, and the comforting realisation that Jeff would never hurt him also helped. He grabbed either side of Jeff’s face and slipped his tongue between Jeff’s lips while both of Jeff’s hands were fiddling with Greg’s belt. He tightened it a notch before undoing it all together, and he moved his lips away from Greg’s.

“If you tell me to stop, I promise I will,” he told Greg, as he started to make his way down Greg’s body again. He left hot, open-mouthed kisses on Greg’s neck, then his already exposed stomach. Greg watched him, feeling a giant mix of excited, nervous, horny, and hot. Finally, Jeff pressed a lingering kiss just above his jeans. 

Greg subconsciously held his breath as his boyfriend hooked his fingers into Greg’s jeans and started pulling them down, just far enough that Greg’s bulge was definitely on display. A sudden rush of cold air hit Greg and he shivered, biting his lip. Jeff stroked him once over his boxers and Greg let out a shaky breath. He was already hard, he had been for a bit now. His fingers were tingling and he felt a knot form in his stomach.

_How am I not freaking out, I’m usually freaking out about this kind of thing? Jeff is going to see my dick! He’s going to see my face during all of it oh my god—_

“Wait,” Greg breathed, resting a hand on Jeff’s head. Jeff immediately stopped and looked up. “I’m nervous.”

Jeff moved himself up a bit so he wasn’t in line with Greg’s bulge. “What about?”

“Well… you’re gonna see my, my dick,” he admitted. “And just—I’ve never had this done before.”

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Jeff assured him. Then he leaned on his hand. “Also, I kinda need to see your dick if I am going to do it, I’m not _that_ skilled.”

Greg let out a little laugh and breathed a little easier. “It’s okay. I want you to do it.”

Jeff gave him the most _adorable_ grin and he scooted down. Then Jeff started slowly stroking him over his boxers and _fuck_ it felt good. Greg’s breathing was definitely getting faster. He breathed in deeply and shut his eyes when Jeff pulled down his boxers, and once again a sudden rush of cold air hit him. His breath involuntarily turned into a moan when he felt Jeff’s fingers around his dick. He knew his face was red so he let himself fall backwards so his head was on the pillow. He landed softly and shut his eyes.

Jeff began to rub him up and down, going slow at first. Fuck, this was way, way better than any time he’d done it by himself. _Well, obviously it would be._ Anyway, he clenched his fingers and forced himself to look down at Jeff.

“Hey.” Jeff’s voice was sultry and Greg didn’t even have the brain power to unpack it right now. Jeff’s cheeks were tinged red. Greg could only imagine what he looked like. He licked his lips and watched as Jeff’s hand stroked up and down Greg’s cock. He pressed his thumb to the head and swirled it around the tip, making Greg groan out wantonly. 

“Fuck,” he managed to sigh. “That feels—that feels _good_.”

“Does it babe?” Jeff teased, his voice sounding lustful. Greg hummed out his appreciation in response. Jeff started to speed up, slightly tightening his grip on Greg’s cock. Greg felt the back of his neck heat up like an oven, and he arched his back slightly. His fingers ran through Jeff’s hair, then he gripped it. Jeff let out the slightest noise of arousal at that, but Greg barely noticed.

What Greg _wasn’t_ expecting was Jeff’s tongue to trace a line up the shaft, swirl around the tip, and then for him to envelop Greg’s cock with his lips. Greg let out an embarrassing moan, as his neck tingled and his toes clenched. This was all too much, but it was a _good_ all too much. Jeff’s head began to bob up and down and Greg kept his hand in Jeff’s hair. He opened his eyes and his vision went a bit fuzzy as his whole body stilled, his back arching upwards.

“God!” he moaned, without even realising. Jeff swallowed around him before removing his mouth. Greg held his hands over his face as he tried to regulate his breathing. He felt Jeff crawl up his body and kiss his collarbone a couple of times.

“I… uh…” Greg swallowed after a minute or two. “Holy fuck.”

“Holy fuck is correct, yes.” Jeff teased him.

“Shut up,” Greg moved his hands and wrapped them around Jeff instead. 

“So?” Jeff licked his lips. “Was that alright?”

“Did my answer not just give that away? That was _more_ than alright that was fucking heavenly.”

Jeff laughed. “Okay, okay. Just checking. But you’d be okay with doing that again?”

“Obviously. Maybe it could, y’know, be the other way around.” Greg quirked his eyebrow up and bit his lip. Jeff leaned closer and gave him a short kiss, complete with that award-winning smile.

“Good, because we’re here all day. And there’s only so many board games we can play.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if anyone noticed but the rating changed from mature to explicit. can you see why lmao
> 
> also, i keep accidentally picturing a giant height difference between these two love-birds when really it's only four inches


	13. Operation: Get Colin and Ryan to Hook Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg forces an invite to Colin's house one day, then celebrates one month with Jeff the next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apparently im colourblind and i realised that i dont actually know what colour jeffs eyes are bc in some photos they're blue and some they're brown so uh what's the truth jeff?
> 
> also im extremely sorry this is so late! i got hit by the truck of depression and lost all motivation. i had about 90% of the chapter written and couldn't find the strength to write the rest :(
> 
> anyway, enjoy!

If both Colin and Greg were hanging off a cliff and Ryan could only save one Greg had a sneaking suspicion that Ryan would choose Colin because he had a crush on him. There was a possibility he might choose Greg though because he knew Jeff would push Ryan off the cliff if he didn’t. This entire cliff metaphor was dumb, so Greg decided to stop thinking about it. Ryan would probably find a way to save both of them anyway. 

Other than Ryan, Colin was Greg’s best friend. He had hair that sort of flopped over his eyes and he always wore this necklace he had that had a pendant hanging off it. It hid under his clothes the majority of the time but Greg knew it was there, only because he couldn’t imagine Colin without it. It was one of the many things about Colin that interested Greg. Another thing was how he managed to be so strong without looking that strong. He could probably lift Ryan and give him a piggyback ride. 

Greg knew nothing of Colin’s sexuality which did make this entire operation a bit more difficult. He had a gut feeling that he was at least bisexual, but Greg’s gaydar wasn’t that good yet. The only time it worked was when he was crushing on Jeff, and that was pure luck. He couldn’t ask Ryan because Greg knew that Ryan didn’t know either. Ryan _also_ didn’t know about ‘Operation: get Colin and Ryan to hook up.’ Greg had a feeling he wouldn’t appreciate it.

He had no plan whatsoever. Not even an idea on how to start. At school he invited himself to Colin’s house, so he could put the lack of a plan into action.

“My sister is visiting,” Colin said. They were walking to his house after school since Colin didn’t have a car and neither Ryan nor Jeff were invited. Thankfully the sun was out, though it was shining directly into both their eyes. Still, Greg refused to wear a cap.

“Which one is she? The one who has the forty-year-old boyfriend or the one who has short hair?” Greg asked.

Colin laughed. “I think you’ll find that that’s the same one.”

“Oh right, it is,” Greg remembered, a smile appearing on his face. “Danielle?”

“Nancy.” Colin frowned. “Danielle is working towards being a scientist. Nancy’s still stuck-up.”

“I can imagine.” Greg raised an eyebrow. “She has a forty-year-old boyfriend and she’s twenty-two.”

“I don’t think he’s quite forty. But he is getting there.”

Greg snorted. “I haven’t met him. Is he here as well?”

“No, unfortunately for you.” Colin patted Greg on the back. “It’s just Nancy. Who still loves you, by the way. She kept asking if I was still friends with you.”

“What? Tell her I’m taken!” he said quickly, as they turned into Colin’s street. “She’s your _sister_ and I’m _gay_.”

Nancy, Colin’s older sister, had only met Greg a few times. She’d already moved out by the time Greg was friends with Colin but for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, she’d come down from Canada and visit. Nancy had decided that she liked Greg the most and _always_ sat just a little too close for Greg’s liking. Too many times she’d grabbed his face and planted a kiss on either of his cheeks. 

“I know,” said Colin. “I think she’d happily cheat on her boyfriend for you. She might even try to convince you to cheat on Jeff, just for her.”

Greg made a puking motion and rolled his eyes so far into his head he thought he saw his brain. Colin laughed at him. Near Colin’s house was a dog that appeared out of nowhere at the gate to its home, barking and scaring the fuck out of both of them. 

When they got to Colin’s house the door opened to reveal Colin’s enthusiastic mom, wearing a red apron that was now covered with flour. Her hair was tangled and unsuccessfully concealed under a matching red chef hat. There was also flour on her face. Greg smiled at her.

“Hey Alice,” he hugged her despite the flour. Only a little transferred to his sweater.

“Hello, Greg! I didn’t know you were coming over.” she glanced to Colin.

“He invited himself over today,” Colin told her, kicking off his shoes. “He probably just wanted cookies. That’s the only reason he comes over.”

Greg nodded sarcastically. “It’s one of the reasons.”

Colin raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Alice left them to their own devices and went back to the kitchen, where Greg hoped she was making cookies. Greg also took his shoes off and he left them by the door with his school bag. Colin’s house wasn’t tiny, but it wasn’t huge. The door opened immediately into the living room which had two big couches, and one single barcalounger. A round rug was in the middle of the all, upon which was a coffee table that had all sorts of knick-knacks on it. The dining room was close to the living room, with no wall separating it. Currently, the table had a bunch of paperwork covering it, and a makeup bag that Greg knew all too well.

“Gregory!” A piercing voice rang through perhaps the entire neighbourhood. Greg looked at Colin sadly, who just tried to hold in his laughter.

Very suddenly he was hugged from behind by what could only be described as walking hell. Nancy was death-gripping him, and she lifted him about a foot off the floor. When she dropped him back down he was spun around.

“It’s just Greg,” he said flatly, looking back at Colin for help.

“‘Ow are you!” she shrieked. Greg flinched. “I’ve missed you, baby!”

 _Oh god, here it comes,_ Greg tried to mentally prepare himself as Nancy grabbed his face and leaned in for a cheek—oh fuck no that’s not a cheek. _Baby?_ A kiss on the mouth? Now he really was going to throw up. He pushed her away and wiped his mouth frantically, moving closer to Colin and clutching his chest in shock.

“What’s wrong? ‘aven’t you missed me?” she pouted. She was putting on the fakest British accent Greg had ever heard. She sounded a bit like Dick Van Dyke in _Mary Poppins_.

Greg took a deep breath then narrowed his eyes at her. “No, I haven’t. And—and don’t you have a boyfriend?”

Nancy looked away and folded her arms. “I mean, I do but ‘e isn’t as great as you.“ 

“ _No._ ” Greg held up a finger, glancing back at Colin. “You can’t do that, it’s wrong.”

Nancy crossed her arms and looked at Colin. “Why’d you tellim?”

Colin shrugged and said nothing. Greg shifted from one foot to the other and put his hands on his hips. Nancy looked from Greg to Colin, then back to Greg. Her expression changed from annoyed to what was probably sultry, but Greg couldn’t tell. She looked a bit constipated.

“Come on Greg, lighten up. I like you better anyway,” she stepped closer. Greg, in turn, stepped back and didn’t hold back his disgust.

“Don’t I know it.” he avoided her eyes, still feeling uncomfortable. Colin pat his back reassuringly, but not helpfully.

Alice came wandering into the room with a plate in her hands like an angel from the heavens. Greg snapped his head to the cookies and immediately grabbed one, eating it quickly. He heard Colin laugh from next to him and grab a cookie for himself.

“What are you guys talking about here?” Alice grinned. “Nancy?”

Nancy stepped closer to Greg again and hung her arm around his shoulders. “Just catching up with this darling.”

Greg cringed and grabbed another cookie, refusing to look at her. Alice’s mouth curled up into a confused smile.

“Sweetie, you know Greg’s gay right?” Alice gestured to Greg with the cookies. 

Greg spat out the cookie in shock. Nancy recoiled her arm back to her side quicker than a speeding bullet. Colin’s eyes widened and he looked at his mom like she was crazy. That was certainly unexpected, but it was fucking hilarious. Greg started giggling and he moved near Colin.

“Mom what?” Nancy looked at Greg, bewilderment ridden on her face. Her fake accent had suddenly gone. “There’s no _way_ he’s gay.”

Greg nodded, still laughing. “Uh, yes way he’s gay. ‘He’ haveth a boyfriend.”

“Now stop it. You _also_ have a boyfriend, even though he is twice your age and old enough to be your father.” Alice put the plate of cookies down on the table and left back to the kitchen. Nancy followed her in shock, glancing back at Greg with both confusion and slightly betrayal. When they were both gone both Colin and Greg burst into laughter.

Greg hung his arm around Colin’s shoulders. “That was _perfect_. Did you see her face?”

“I did.” Colin snickered. “She was shocked right down to the bone. I don’t know how. You’re not exactly… well, you know.”

“Oh I know. Sara tells me that all the time.” Greg turned dramatically towards the hall where he started walking to Colin’s room. Colin followed after him. “I guess ‘love'—ew, gross. Love is blinding.”

“Says the guy with a boyfriend.” 

They both walked into Colin’s room, the door swinging almost closed behind them. 

“I—I’m not saying that love is gross, I’m just saying that her ‘love’ for me is disgusting.” Greg folded his arms.

“Her ‘love’,” Colin mimicked Greg. “Is perfectly valid and yet, uh, totally unrewarding.”

“And my love for Jeff is perfectly valid, and oh so totally satisfying and beautiful.” Greg pretended to flick his hair like a girl would, except he didn’t have as much hair as a girl. He sat backwards on the chair at Colin’s desk and leaned on his elbow.

Colin laughed and sat on his bed, scooting back so he was leaning against the headboard. “You’re weird.”

“Do you want to hear something that is definitely ‘too much information'?” Greg smirked and wheeled the chair closer. Colin leaned closer and crossed his legs.

“No.” he responded. 

Greg shrugged. “Your loss.”

“No wait, I’m joking,” Colin said frantically. “Tell me.”

“On Tuesday right? I wasn’t at school. Well, I was but then I left rather quickly.” he started. Right as he was about to continue Colin interrupted.

“I was wondering why you weren’t there. Ryan was also wondering because he’d seen you that morning with Jeff.”

“You guys must have stopped wondering by yesterday, damn. Too invested in each other?”

Colin laughed. “Well yeah, It just left our minds.”

“Because you were too busy flirting?” Greg raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“No!” Colin denied, still laughing. He might’ve blushed a little bit, but Greg wasn’t sure. “Just tell me why you left.”

Greg eyed him and smiled. “Well, I left after homeroom because Mr A pretty much told me I look like shit, so I agreed with him and asked Jeff if we could go to his house, which he was more than willing to do.”

“If I’m getting the right feeling, and I’m only getting this because you said it was ‘too much information’,” Colin held his hands together in a prayer-like pose. “Did you guys have sex?”

Greg scoffed but couldn’t help his blush. “No, but I mean… it wasn’t _sex_ sex but he did go down on me.”

“Oh wow.” Colin nodded. “Yeah. That falls under the category of ‘too much information’ alright.”

“But that means we’re getting closer to the sex thing!” Greg said cheerfully, throwing his hands in the air. Colin rolled his eyes but grinned.

“Hooray for you. Meanwhile, I’m over here I’m just, uh, destined to be lonely.” 

“But do you really think that?” Greg pressed. Maybe he was going to have more luck with Operation: Get Colin and Ryan to Hook Up after all. If Colin was lonely was would be more likely to go on a date with Ryan, right?

“No. I’m adorable.” Colin shrugged.

 _Ugh, never mind._ Now Greg was unsure. He pushed the chair away from Colin’s bed by kicking off the bed. The chair spun around and Greg ended up facing away from Colin. At least the conversation was sort of on relationships. Maybe he could manipulate it and ask Colin if he liked boys. He spun the chair around so he was looking at Colin again.

“Is there anyone who could be a possible candidate for the lovely Colin Mochrie?” 

Colin visibly blushed, a good sign. “Well, I don’t really know actually. I could probably get with them if I wanted to.”

“Ooh, who?” Greg whispered, jutting his head out. 

“I’m not telling you,” Colin also whispered, crossing his arms. Greg pouted. “It’s not your business.”

Greg squinted and hopped off the chair, climbing onto Colin’s bed next to him. Colin watched him intently.

“I can make it my business.”

“How would you do that?” 

“By not leaving you alone until you tell me. I’m here for at least another hour or two, Col.” he leaned close and dropped his voice. “You can’t escape me.”

Colin sighed and rolled his eyes back into his head. “You’re a pain. Why am I friends with you?”

“Because you love me, don’t you?” Greg wrapped his arms around Colin’s shoulders. “Now can you please tell me who it is that you have a crush on?”

Colin side eyed Greg and elbowed him in the stomach, effectively forcing Greg out of his personal space. Greg sat against the wall and waited for what felt like five minutes. It was really only ten seconds. Greg was just really impatient at times, especially when it came to Operation: Get Colin and Ryan to Hook Up. If he didn’t succeed today he might never succeed.

“Well, there is, uh, there is someone—“

“Guy or gal?”

“Does it matter?”

Greg nodded and folded his arms. “Um, yuh huh.”

Colin sighed. “It’s a… guy."

“Yes! I knew it!” Greg said excitedly, grabbed Colin again. There was more chance! Colin unconsciously smiled.

“Uh…” he looked away. Greg let go of him again and tapped his leg. Colin turned to Greg again.

“Colin?” he asked, trying to keep a smile off his face. 

Colin craned his head to see if anyone was at the door. “Ok. Yeah… I’m bisexual.”

“How long have you known?” he leaned back against the wall. Colin looked a little nervous. “Have you told anyone else?”

Colin shook his head. “No. I’ve been sitting on this for a while now and it’s been hard to come to terms with it at times. Sometimes I see you guys and I get a bit jealous because you seem so comfortable already, and you’ve been gay for less time than I’ve been bi. It’s almost unfair. My parents are most likely cool with the gay thing, so I would be fine, but I just don’t know.”

“Well, I mean,” Greg let out a sigh when Colin finished. “It can be annoying at times because if I’m mentioning Jeff I so _desperately_ want to say, boyfriend, because that’s who he is. But I don’t know what my parents would do if they knew. They have made some… interesting comments about gay people. Especially my dad.”

“What do you think they’d do?” Colin asked.

“That’s the thing, I honestly don’t know.” Greg scratched his neck. “I, I mean—I don’t want to make it worse than it already is.”

Colin looked at him sadly. “At least you’re eighteen.”

“Oh yeah, definitely. Thank god for that.” he scoffed. 

“What’s it like having a boyfriend?”

Greg looked at Colin incredulously. “What?”

“Well, it looks _really_ fun.” Colin nodded meaningfully. He had an excellent poker face. Ugh. “What’s it like?”

“Uhh…” he furrowed his brow and sat back, looking away from Colin. “The thing is, you only see the good parts. I get to see the… the really, _really_ good parts, and yeah, there are gonna be some bad parts, let’s be real here. But while you guys see the cute parts, like Jeff kissing my cheek or us holding hands, I get to see the real Jeff. The Jeff who falls asleep while reading. The Jeff who scribbles all over both our books in maths. The Jeff who treats me like I’m _royalty_ , even though I’m really not that special. Uh, he holds me and says he loves me, and I know he means it, _every_ time. He does the dumbest things sometimes but it makes me laugh, which makes him laugh, and it’s _adorable_. He puts on my glasses, and okay, even though I have to squint to see him even a little bit, he looks so nerdy. I get to see all of those things, and it’s… it’s wonderful.”

Greg looked at Colin after a couple of seconds, because he wasn’t saying anything. He had his hand over his heart and he was smiling. 

“Wow.” Colin finally said. “I want that.”

“You can’t have Jeff.”

“Well, obviously.”

“However, I think I know someone you might get along with _really_ well.”

 

By the time Greg realised it was his and Jeff’s one month anniversary he’d already gotten dressed, eaten breakfast, and walked out the door. He didn’t have anything to give Jeff, but he wasn’t that fussed. One month wasn’t really an anniversary, to be honest. Jeff wasn’t _that_ type who would get hooked on every month and demand something special anyway, and neither was Greg. A simple ‘happy one month’ would have to do.

Sara didn’t offer to drive Greg that morning, so he had to walk. It was now late October, and it wasn’t that cold yet, between seventy to eighty degrees. The nights were crisp and Greg had started wearing sweaters to bed, but not socks. He couldn’t wear socks to bed, they’re just a little bit too warm and they’d always end up in a weird, swirling vortex under his covers where he could never find them. 

Today he was wearing Jeff’s clothes, again. It was so cliché but he liked Jeff’s clothes more than his own. They were more stylish his and they fit, so why wouldn’t he? It did mean Jeff had to buy more clothes or steal Greg’s, however that might end up with them switching closets entirely. Jeff had some great stuff. Today he was wearing a sweater Jeff used to own that was too long for his arms and Jeff’s jeans. He didn’t plan to give Jeff’s clothes back, by the way. 

“Damn, who’s that fine looking man over here?” Greg heard a car pull up next to him and a familiar voice. Greg turned around and put his hands on his hips.

“Says the sexy one in the car.”

Jeff laughed and stopped the car, getting out of it. “It’s been an entire month, did you know that?”

“I did, _mon chéri_.” Greg looked up lovingly at his boyfriend. “Sadly I have nothing for you but my love.”

“That’s unfortunate because I have my love for you, and even more, _mi amor_.” Jeff hugged him. “It’s my hugs.”

Greg snickered as Jeff let go of him and began walking away. Greg easily followed and walked next to him. “Do you wanna go somewhere after school?”

“Of course I do, it’s been a month. Date. Is. Necessary.” Jeff pocketed his hands. “Any ideas?”

“You been to _The Red Rose_ yet?” Greg looked at him.

Jeff shook his head quickly and grinned. “Nope. Wanna go there?”

“It’s the only option we have.” Greg said seriously, then broke into little giggles. “But seriously, it’d be perfect. Oh and I’m paying.”

Jeff pouted but didn’t argue. He had paid for their first date, after all. It seemed fair. They climbed up the stairs towards their homeroom, not bothering to stay outside and see the others. It was warmer inside anyway. Suddenly, Jeff sneezed, scaring Greg.

“Oh kittens,” he held a hand over his heart. “Warn me next time, dear.”

Jeff looked at Greg in wonder. “Are you actually an old lady in disguise?”

“I’m actually ninety-three years old, you’re dating a cougar,” Greg said. 

Jeff slid his arm across Greg’s shoulders. “Wow, you’re a hot ninety-three-year-old.”

“Sorry babe, the bank’s closed until four. I ain’t no duck soup.” 

Jeff burst out laughing and stopped walking, keeling over. Greg also started laughing, accidentally snorting. Another student stared at them as they walked past, but neither of them noticed. Jeff grabbed onto Greg and tried to control his breathing. When he did, he wiped his eyes and let go of Greg. 

“I wasn’t expecting that,” he said lightly. Greg snorted again and Jeff laughed. “Okay, that’s adorable.”

“Don’t patronise me,” Greg squinted at him, catching his breath and walking off towards their homeroom. 

Jeff chuckled. Greg still smiled, because Jeff had called him adorable. Immediately he thought of the pictures they’d taken, and then he imagined living with Jeff in an apartment sometime in the future, grabbing a random photo album and sitting together, smiling and pondering over all the adventures that had had in their life. Sure, they’d only been together for one month, but it didn’t hurt to dream.

No one else knew that it was their anniversary—if you could call it that. But still, no one was surprised at all the affection they were giving each other during recess and lunch. Besides, to outsiders, it only looked like two close friends ‘pretending’ to be gay to make their friends laugh. However, both Greg and Jeff knew that it was a fuck ton more than necessary and yet, neither of them cared. Jeff drew little doodles on Greg’s hand during maths, sneaking up his sleeve and writing a secret not-safe-for-work message that forced Greg to keep his sleeve down for the rest of the day. In art, Greg stole Jeff’s journal and hid little messages throughout it. Messages such as:

“‘ _Roses are red, daffodils are gay, if you read this message, hip hip hooray_.’ Wow, you’re really creative.” said Jeff, reading out the poem Greg had written in a deadpan voice. Greg rolled his eyes.

“It gets better. Just keep looking.” 

Jeff flipped through his pages until he found another. “‘ _Clint Eastwood is my kink_.’ And a heart.”

“Is he now? Maybe I should dress like a cowboy.” Greg folded his arms and grinned. 

“Wha—no! You wrote this.” Jeff blabbered. “If anything it’s your kink.”

“Where’s your proof? It’s in _your_ book.”

Jeff let out a sigh. Then he looked away from Greg and scratched the back of his neck. “You should dress up like a cowboy though.”

“Oh? So it _is_ —“

“—I never said that.” he denied. “I-I just think it’d be… funny.”

“Oh my god, you know what we need to think about?” Greg gasped, grabbing Jeff’s arms. “Halloween costumes!”

Jeff’s eyes went really wide and he dropped his journal onto the table. “Yes!”

“What are you, five? Shut up!” 

Greg slowly turned his head to the kid who shouted at them. It was Henry, a known jerk. Unfortunately, he sat in the same room as Greg and Jeff for art because he was ‘gifted’ and needed his personal space to be an artsy cunt who acted like everyone was beneath him. Greg raised a single eyebrow at him.

“Are you eavesdropping?”

“It’s not hard when you’re the only two fuckers makin’ noise in here,” Henry grumbled. Some of the other kids were looking now, but they were trying to make it like they weren’t looking.

“Halloween is fuckin’ fun, don’t act like you haven’t done it.” Jeff snorted.

“I actually haven’t.”

Greg’s jaw dropped. “So _that’s_ why you’re a heartless bitch. You had no childhood!”

Henry rolled his eyes and turned back to his work, deciding to ignore Greg and Jeff. Both Greg and Jeff grinned and went back to their conversation, this time just a little bit quieter. They had ten days until Halloween, so there was plenty of time to either make a costume or hassle their parents for money so they could buy one. Whenever the teacher came in they pretended like they were doing their work. She seemed none the wiser, but she probably knew they weren’t doing anything.

When the bell rang for the end of school Greg was the first one out of the door and he tried his best to look casual while he waited at the front of the school for Jeff. Although he looked the _least_ casual he had ever been in his life. He kept rocking back and forth and sticking his hands in and out of his pockets.

“Wow, you look… fidgety.” Ryan said out of nowhere. “What’s happening?”

“I’ve developed a rare disease called ‘in love with my boyfriend.’ It makes me nervous and horny at random moments. I bet you haven’t heard of it.” Greg cracked his knuckles, to which Ryan made a face.

“I haven’t. I can’t imagine what it’s like.” 

Greg nodded meaningfully towards him. “I think you have the strain called ‘crushing on someone but I won’t do anything about it because I’m a coward’. Symptoms are sadness, frustration, and similar to mine, horniness.”

“I’m not a coward,” Ryan said, deadpan.

“Alright, then ask Col out for fucks sake!”

The day before, when Greg went to Colin’s house, he talked to Colin about Operation: Get Colin and Ryan to Hook Up. However, he didn’t mention Ryan at all. He told Colin about this guy he knew who was handsome, gay, and ‘probably’ liked him back (which Ryan does). Colin seemed more than interested, even though he had a crush. Unless his crush was Ryan and Colin was a mind-reader. Greg was just a little bit more confused than when he started this operation.

Greg rolled his eyes just as Jeff came up behind Ryan, clapping him on the back. “I agree with whatever Greg just said. I don’t know what it was.”

Ryan looked at Jeff, unimpressed, and then Greg because Ryan knew that Jeff _did_ know what Greg said. “I’m gonna go and let you two fuck in a parking lot or whatever it is you have planned. Bye.”

He left without another word, chucking a peace sign behind him. Greg looked at Jeff and held out his hands.

“To the café?”

“To the café.” 

Jeff yanked his keys out of his pocket and threw them in the air. Greg tried to catch them but he missed and they hit him in the face instead, then blushed lightly because he just did that. When he bent down to get them Jeff pat his head. Greg looked up at him with narrow eyes, then he walked off towards Jeff’s car with the keys. Thankfully he knew how to drive, so he glanced back at Jeff with a smirk and popped open the driver side, throwing his bag back between the seats. 

Jeff looked at him strangely as he climbed into the passenger side. “I didn’t know you could drive.”

“Yeah, I just get everyone to drive me around because it’s more fun that way,” he admitted, starting the car. 

“So everyone who can drive is your slave, basically,” Jeff said.

“Except you. You’re just a sweetheart who has a car.” Greg flirted.

Jeff blushed a little but he smiled, reaching over and resting his hand on Greg’s thigh. “I love you.”

“I love the fact that your hand is on my thigh.” he looked down at it. “Makes me feel nice.”

“I would make it even nicer, but we’re about to go on a date.” Jeff teased. Greg took a hand off the wheel and placed it on Jeff’s, lacing their fingers together.

“You know, maybe we don’t have to go on a date and maybe we can just skip to driving to the middle of nowhere so we can make out.” Greg said half-jokingly, half seriously.

“I’m not skippin’ a date because you’re horny,” Jeff laughed.

Greg also laughed. “I know, I know. But after?”

“Of course,” Jeff scoffed.

Greg grinned and looked at Jeff for a few seconds, then back to the road. Jeff’s car was surprisingly easy to drive. His dad’s old car, which he learned on, was sputtery and annoying which made it a challenge to drive. But Jeff’s car was smoother, and it didn’t sound like it was going to explode any minute.

He parked the car across the street from the café and already Greg could smell the coffee. He smiled at Jeff and they crossed the street.

“This place is amazing, just wait.” Greg rubbed Jeff’s arm in a ‘just friends’ way, though he meant it in an ‘I love you’ way. “They have croissants and raisin toast and English muffins—and also milkshakes.”

“Really?” Jeff said excitedly as they walked through the door. “Can we get a milkshake together?”

“Honey, that’s a bit too gay, don’t ya think?” Greg cocked his head to the side.

“As if anything is too gay for you,” Jeff quipped.

“Fair point. Let’s get one.”

Jeff fist pumped and Greg led them to one of the tables in the back near the jukebox. Currently, _‘Hooked On A Feeling’_ by Blue Swede was playing. Greg could just feel that either _‘Moonage Daydream’_ or _'Waterloo’_ would play next, but he wasn’t a mind reader. He hoped it wasn’t Waterloo. They sat down and Greg found out that the chairs were just as comfortable as the booths. Still, he wasn’t going to change permanently.

For an October afternoon, it was a bit dark so the ambience was really nice in the café. There weren’t too many people since it hadn’t hit five yet. Greg noticed that the salt and pepper had just been refilled and were sitting proudly at the wall. Jeff was looking around and taking in the place since he’d never been there before.

“This place is cute,” he said, finally looking back at Greg.

“Not as cute as you.”

“Ew.” Jeff grinned. “That’s cliché.”

“I know you secretly love it.” Greg rolled his eyes. Jeff kicked him playfully under the table.

Then, a waiter confidently strode towards them. “Are you two ready to order?”

“Hey Kevin,” Greg waved.

“Hello, Greg.” Kevin smiled. “How are you?”

“Uh, gayer than before.” Greg pointed at Jeff, who waved. “Kevin, this is Jeff, Jeff this is Kevin. Jeff is my boyfriend.”

“Congrats,” Kevin kept his smile stuck on his face as if he would be fired if it left. “What can I get you two?”

They relayed their order to Kevin, who managed to quickly scribble it down despite how quickly they were ordering and then deciding not to get something and then actually ordering it again. To sum it all up, they were getting a large vanilla milkshake with two straws, and a muffin each. It wasn’t lunchtime nor dinnertime so there was no point getting an entire meal. Kevin closed his notepad and strutted off.

Greg leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. He nodded meaningfully towards Jeff. “Tell me something I don’t know about you.”

“What don’t you know about me?” Jeff cocked his head to the side. Greg didn’t say anything, so Jeff continued. “Well, I guess I could tell you about this one time I was in a play and it went horribly.”

“How on earth could it do horribly when you’re in it?” Greg flirted, nudging Jeff underneath the table with his foot.

Jeff rolled his eyes and nodded. “I know. But no, I was probably ten-eleven, pretty young. I’d never performed in front of anyone before, so it was my first show ever. All the adults told me I was gonna be fine, so what if you’re a little nervous, we all are. Long story short as I was doing my first scene, I had just walked out on stage, when my mic dropped out and no one could hear me. I got so overwhelmed that I threw up, right there on stage.”

Greg stared at Jeff in wonder. “Oh my god.”

“Yeah, kinda gross isn’t it?” Jeff exhaled.

“No shit.” Greg grabbed his stomach. “But oh my god you poor thing.”

“It’s fine, it was literally nine years ago. Plus, I’ve done a couple more plays since then and I haven’t thrown up again.”

“Well done. I’m proud.”

Jeff laughed a little. “Thanks for being proud of that. Now it’s your turn. Tell me something I don’t know about you.”

Greg squinted to the side of Jeff while he thought. What didn’t Jeff know? Well, there were heaps of things Jeff didn’t know but nothing was coming to mind. He tapped the table rhythmically. Jeff was waiting patiently, his forearms flat on the table.

“I guess… sometimes in the morning I’ll put on a record and listen to it while getting ready for school. You know, I’ll look in the mirror and like dance to it.” he tilted his head one way. “And sometimes I draw dumb little comics with jokes that I’ve come up with. They’re all stashed together in a book somewhere in my room, I can’t remember where it is so don’t ask to see it.”

Jeff’s lips curled into a smile. “That’s cute. You should look for the book because I _do_ want to see them and I _will_ get to see them. It’s not optional.”

“You can go through my room if you want.” Greg leaned back in his chair.

“Hey, whatever it takes to find those comics.” Jeff jabbed his pointer finger onto the table. “My new mission.”

Greg rolled his eyes lovingly right when their milkshake arrived, with two red and white bendy straws poking out the top. Jeff grabbed one and drank from the milkshake. Greg looked at him expectantly.

“Oh my god, that’s good. Try it.”

Greg did the same as Jeff, his eyebrows raising at how good the milkshake was. “Did they purposefully make it this good?”

“Maybe.” Jeff kept drinking until Greg kicked him again.

“Leave some for me, Jeffrey. Or I’ll eat your muffin.”

Speaking of muffins, they arrived pretty much when Greg said ‘muffin’. Two plates were placed down in front of them with a muffin sitting elegantly on top.

“That’s okay, I’ll just eat something else later if you know what I mean.” Jeff winked.

Greg’s jaw dropped and he blushed.  



	14. You Two Are Gayer Than I Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff decides that since Greg isn't at school, he'll take Operation: Get Colin and Ryan to Hook Up into his own hands. A few days later the happy couple goes shopping for Halloween costumes and get naked in a lake (almost).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cltmdIm3Vo&frags=pl%2Cwn
> 
> the trailer for season 15 is so chaotic, i love it (also jeff and greg are looking like SNACCS)

“Jeff, I need to talk to you about something.”

Jeff looked up from his cereal to his dad. “What about?”

“It’s not anything serious, I’ve just been a little curious.” Dad leaned on the kitchen counter. “You’re always going over to Greg’s house, and he’s always comin’ over here.”

“What about it?”

“You never do that with any of your other friends.” his dad pointed out. “Though, last year there was that guy—“

“—we don’t talk about that guy, remember?” Jeff interrupted. “He was a dick and cut me out of his life.”

In reality, Jeff cut him out of his life. They’d met at a small gathering of queer people, not quite a festival, and the guy had given Jeff his number. They hooked up and continued to do so for a few weeks until Jeff got nervous about sneaking around and cut off contact with him. They hadn’t spoken since, and Jeff deliberately avoided the places he knew that guy would be for months.

“I know, I know. But you were always going to his house. I just want to know what the deal is with Greg.”

Jeff ate a spoonful of cereal slowly, just to annoy his dad. When he finished he licked his lips. “Greg… is my boyfriend.”

Jeff could probably hear a pin drop, it was that silent. His dad was looking at him blankly. Even Bill had looked up from across the room.

“I… wasn’t expecting that.”

“Neither was Greg, actually.”

Dad laughed a little. “Alright. So you’re gay. Good for you.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Jeff tried to ignore his pounding heart. He couldn’t believe he’d just done that so nonchalantly. It was so natural, too. He’d never gone around and told people Greg was his boyfriend before. It was a nice feeling. He couldn’t wait to tell Greg that he did that.

“How long have you been gay?”

“Uh, like freshman year.” Jeff stirred his cereal. “It’s actually why I moved schools.”

His dad’s eyes widened. “Really? I thought it was because you were being bullied.”

Jeff raised an eyebrow. “I’m gonna let you figure that one out, dad. You know, I thought you’d have a bigger reaction than that. I mean, Bill’s was more dramatic. Hell, even _Greg_ had more of a reaction than that.”

“Well, I just don’t think it’s a big deal.” Dad shrugged. “And plus, I kinda got a vibe.”

“A vibe?” Jeff furrowed his brow. 

“Yeah, a vibe.”

Jeff held out his hand and gestured for his dad to continue.

“Well, you’ve always been really into fashion and theatre.” Dad got up and folded his arms. “And whenever Greg came over you two’d look at each other like you were in a romantic film. And then you’d go up to your room and shut the door. So you weren’t exactly being subtle.”

“Way to stereotype, dad,” Jeff scoffed. “But okay, you have a point.”

His dad motioned to the sky. “See? Stereotyping can get you a long way.”

Jeff snapped his head to Bill, who had started laughing at that. Jeff didn’t think his dad meant that in a funny way, but Bill laughed at anything. Especially something as dumb as that.

“What? It was funny!” Bill said between laughs. Jeff rolled his eyes and finished his cereal. There was a sudden clap on his shoulder and he looked up again.

“Anyway, congrats. You’re gay!” his dad cheered. “Tell Greg I approve of him.”

“Even if you didn’t like him I would still be dating him, this isn’t the 1950s and I’m not a sixteen-year-old girl going on her first date,” Jeff said jokingly.

“Stereotyping can get you a long way. You’re already taking my lesson into heart.”

Jeff decided to ignore his dad and get ready for school. He tipped the last bit of milk out into the sink and rinsed the bowl. He was just about to go down the hallway when the phone rang. He picked it up since he was the closest.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Jeff.” It was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. It was Greg on the other side.

“What’s up?” Jeff leaned against the wall.

“I’m not coming into school today,” Greg’s voice was a little scratchy. “I’m really not feeling too good.”

“Oh,” he said. “Well, I hope you get better soon. I don’t want you gone for too long or I might just invade your home.”

“You know I’d be okay with that, right?” Greg laughed, then coughed. “I just wanted to tell you so you didn’t get all sad when you didn’t find me there.”

“Hey, that’s never happened.”

Greg was silent.

“Alright fine, it has.”

“I know it has. Because last time you stormed my house the second you got out of school,” said Greg. Jeff adjusted the phone against his ear.

“To be fair, I’d also found out you were attacked, so I had every right to orchestrate a rescue mission and break down the barricade.” Jeff defended himself, adjusting himself against the wall. He was really fidgety this morning.

Greg laughed. “I guess that’s fair.”

“I need to go because I do have to get ready for school, but I’ll leave you with two fun things to think about.”

“Ooh, do tell.”

“Number one, I love you.” Jeff grinned and took a deep breath. “And number two, my dad approves of us dating.”

“Wait, what?”

“I love you?”

“Well, how couldn’t you. But your dad approves of us dating? Did you tell him?”

“He said he got a vibe off me and pretty much knew already because we ‘aren’t exactly subtle’.” Jeff mocked his dad, even though he was literally in the next room.

“You gotta admit, he has a point.”

“I mean yeah, we weren’t really hidin’ it that well.” Jeff smiled again. “But I still thought he didn’t know.”

“Jeff, honey. How can anyone be oblivious when you constantly look at me like you want to fuck me?”

Jeff’s face started turning red and he glanced around, making sure no one could hear him. “We-uh-well—“

“Relax, I’m kidding.” Greg was laughing, then he dropped his voice. “Or am I?”

Jeff cleared his throat and also lowered his voice. “You aren’t kiddin’. ‘Cause like I _do_ want to fuck you.”

He could just _tell_ that Greg was flustered and his face was turning red. Jeff giggled and told Greg he loved him one more time before finally hanging up the phone. He looked around the room and saw Bill staring at him.

“What?” Jeff said bitterly.

“You two are gayer than I thought.”

Jeff scowled at his brother.

No one else at school really noticed the fact that Greg wasn’t there, which kind of annoyed Jeff, but he didn’t bring it up. Of course, he would notice it, they were literally dating. But Ryan, for example, was too fixated on Colin to even notice Jeff’s existence sometimes. Jeff didn’t really know Ryan that well, but he still considered him a friend. They had amusing conversations, and he was usually on the same wavelength as Jeff. Plus, they were almost the same height. They had that in common.

Jeff also didn’t know Colin that well. But that was what he was planning to do today while Greg wasn’t there. After all, someone had to do Operation: Get Colin and Ryan to Hook Up. 

“Hello all,” he announced as he arrived at the table at lunch. Ryan and Brad were already there.

“Where’s your pet?” Ryan teased. 

Jeff cocked his head to the side and sat down next to Ryan. “My pet?”

“Yeah. Greg.”

“If you ever refer to Greg as my ‘pet’ ever again I’m gonna destroy you,” Jeff said sweetly. “He’s sick today. I didn’t think you’d noticed he was gone.”

Ryan scoffed. “I do notice when my best friend isn’t here.”

“Okay.” Jeff shrugged and grabbed his food out of his bag. 

Brad shuffled a little closer. “Is he really sick or is he faking it to stay home and sleep?”

“At this point, I don’t really know nor care,” said Jeff. “Do either of you have any water I can steal?”

Brad immediately chucked a water bottle across the table towards him. 

“Thanks,” he opened it and drank almost half the bottle in one go. Usually, he wouldn’t forget his own bottle, but he was distracted this morning and he was running a little late. 

“Hey, did you end up telling your dad you’re not on the team anymore?” Ryan asked Brad, his brow furrowed in confusion. Jeff returned the lid of Brad’s bottle and slid back to him as he shook his head.

“Not yet,” he said. “I’m terrified to.”

“Wait, what was his reaction to you getting beaten up?” Jeff interrupted.

“Oh, he just thought I had practice and it got a little out of hand. Which, if you think about it, isn’t far from the truth. I mean, it _was_ football players who did it.” Brad scratched the back of his neck and leaned on his hand.

“So he didn’t care that you got punched in the face?” Ryan cocked his head to the side. “Maybe you can make up some bullshit story about how you got kicked for being too physical.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Jeff chimed in. Colin then walked up to the table, sitting down next to Brad in silence.

“Really? You think he’d believe that?”

Jeff shrugged. “I think so.”

Brad nodded slowly. “I’ll think about it. Or I could just, not tell him.”

“That is always an option.” Ryan threw his hands up. Colin looked at Brad strangely.

“But not the option you wanna take!” Jeff raised an eyebrow. “You have to tell him, otherwise if he finds out later it might be worse than if you tell him sooner.”

Brad groaned and rolled his eyes. Jeff shook his head in annoyance. “I just think you should tell him.”

“You don’t know my dad, you don’t know the reaction he’s gonna have,” said Brad. Colin then looked as if he got it.

“Oh, and like you do?” Jeff quipped. 

“I have a vague idea, yes.” 

Jeff sighed. “Alright, fine. It’s your choice.”

“What’s this all about?” Colin finally said.

“Brad hasn’t told his dad he’s not on the team yet,” Ryan told him. Colin turned to Brad with a blank look.

“Why?”

“I don’t want to have this conversation again.” Brad smiled without humour. “But I’m scared to.”

Colin rubbed his shoulder. “Well, that’s okay. You don’t have to just yet.”

Both Jeff and Ryan’s jaws dropped, but they both decided to let it go. Jeff was a little annoyed because if he had been kicked from the team he’d tell his dad pretty quickly. But what Brad said was reasonable; Jeff didn’t know Brad’s dad. From what Jeff could tell Brad’s dad was homophobic, which couldn’t be nice to live with since Brad was bisexual. Which, in turn, was why he _actually_ got removed from the team.

Then again, Jeff didn’t know Brad that well either. He’d only been around for almost two months, so he was very much a newbie. Honestly, his first impression of Brad was biased because all he knew about Brad was that he was on the team, but Greg had assured him that Brad was nice. Brad dressed casually and, let’s be real, he was pretty cute. He also knew a lot of stuff, like Greg. 

Jeff refocused on the conversation and found out that Ryan had excused himself to the bathroom, leaving Colin and Brad with Jeff. Jeff swung his legs up onto the seat where Ryan was sitting before.

“‘Sup, Colin.” he finger-gunned at him, then questioned why he did it.

“Hi Jeff,” Colin replied, smiling at Jeff.

“What’s your day been like?”

“I can tell this is a setup.” Colin paused. “So just ask what you wanna ask.”

Jeff looked at him like he was crazy. “What? No…”

“You’re dating Greg. You’ve picked up some of his habits.” 

Jeff looked at Brad, who only nodded. He sighed lightly and tapped his fingers on the table.

“Do you ever wanna get in a relationship?” That wasn’t exactly what he wanted to ask, but it was kind of related. Hopefully.

“Well, it’d be nice,” he responded. Maybe this could work. _Think faster, damnit._

“If you had to get with any one of us, not including me or Greg,” Jeff twirled his finger in a circle. “But including those who aren’t here, so Ryan and Wayne, who would you choose?”

Colin shrugged. “Oh, Ryan. Easily.”

“Rude.” Brad scoffed, but he smiled widely.

Jeff bit his lip to stop from smiling. “Why him?”

“I’ve known him the longest and we’re pretty much best friends. Doesn’t it just make sense?” Colin was either _very_ good at hiding his crush, or he didn’t have a crush at all. 

“Anything else?” Jeff’s voice went a little higher and he leaned a bit closer. “Like, I don’t know, his rugged good looks?”

“Sounds like you want to be with him.” Colin quipped.

“No, I’m just gay and know when someone is attractive,” Jeff said bluntly. “But just answer me?”

Colin fidgeted in his seat. “Uh, what did you ask again?”

“He asked if his rugged good looks have anything to do with the fact you wanna be in a relationship with him.” Brad joined in. “And I think it does—”

“—what if it did? Wha-what would you say about that?” Colin crossed one leg over the other and mostly avoided Jeff’s eyes. Jeff grinned and leaned on his hand. Colin had a noticeable blush to his cheeks. “You know what? So what if I would choose him over you guys? He’s the most loveable out of all of you anyway.”

Jeff and Brad exchanged looks. It was obvious, Colin liked Ryan. Not just ‘like’ but _like_ like. 

“Are you sure about that? Because, uh, look at these guns.” Brad flexed and Jeff burst out laughing, almost falling off his seat. Colin giggled a little and he shook his head.

“Okay. You’re next in line.”

Ryan walked back up to the table, announcing his arrival by kicking Jeff’s legs off the seat and saying ‘move’. Colin visibly relaxed. At least, it seemed like he did to Jeff. If Jeff wasn’t just jumping to conclusions, it seemed like Colin liked Ryan. Also, Greg told him that Ryan liked Colin, which was why they started ‘Operation: Get Colin and Ryan to Hook Up’. 

Now all they had to do was get them on a date together.

 

Today was the most exciting day since he and Greg got together. Of course, there were other exciting days, but today they were getting Halloween costumes. That topped everything they’d already done together. Jeff _loved_ Halloween, and he knew Greg loved it too. Also, the thought of Greg dressed up as anything was exciting. Jeff already knew he’d look good. 

Ryan had invited them all to a Halloween ‘party’ on Sunday night, and he said to wear costumes. He also said his parents wouldn’t be home and neither would his younger brother, so Jeff had a feeling there would be alcohol.

Jeff looked at his excited boyfriend once the bell rang for the end of school. “You ready?”

“Readier than I’ll ever be! Let’s just go!” Greg clapped his hands and jumped out of his seat. They’d had art last and, as per usual, didn’t do much. They were one of the first out of the classroom, and they didn’t slow their pace until they got to Jeff’s car.

“You driving or me?” Jeff asked, but the question was already answered. Greg was reaching into the passenger window—which was open a little bit—and unlocking the door. “Alright.”

Greg laughed as he opened the door. “You have the keys, it’s just easier.”

Jeff shrugged then nodded. “Fair.”

They both threw their bags into the back seat and buckled in. Jeff started the car and they sped off.

In the first store they went to Greg found a cowboy hat, and of course teased Jeff about his ‘cowboy kink’, which he didn’t have. Probably. Greg would definitely look hot in a cowboy hat and boots, but it didn’t mean he had a cowboy kink. 

“Howdy there, stranger,” Greg flirted, sidling up to Jeff. His thumbs were hooked in the belt loops of his jeans, and he was wearing the cowboy hat. “I came here to ask ya if that’s a mirror in yer pants? ‘Cause, I can see myself in ‘em.”

Greg slid his hands around Jeff’s waist and down to the back pockets of his jeans. Jeff was _so_ glad they were in a compact clothes store with no one around. He looked down at Greg’s face and couldn’t stop a smile. Jeff softly grabbed either side of Greg’s face and kissed him, bumping the hat out of the way.

“So, you don’t have a thing for cowboys, eh?” Greg said in his normal voice once he pulled away. “We’ll see about that.”

Jeff blushed and rolled his eyes. They continued to look around, unfortunately finding nothing. Greg did end up buying the cowboy hat though. It was five dollars, who wouldn’t?

The second store was just as compact but it had heaps more stuff. It was divided into sections like kids, girls, boys, adults, _adults_ , couples, movies, tv shows, etc. There were heaps of things, and they went to the normal adult's section first to see if they could find anything worthwhile. The entire time, Greg kept his cowboy hat on, even going as far to stack another on top of it.

“I think you’re going to be a cowboy for Halloween,” Jeff commented. “You haven’t looked at anything else.”

“I could be a dead cowboy,” Greg mused. “Like, you know. Rip the costume, put some fake blood on it—ooh! A vampire cowboy!”

“Oh my god,” Jeff laughed and knocked the second hat off Greg’s head. “Or just a normal cowboy?”

Greg took his hat off, leaving it hanging behind his head and he leaned against Jeff’s chest. “As long as you think I look sexy.” 

Jeff huffed out a laugh and hugged Greg around his shoulders. Then, his eyes caught something.

He let go of Greg then pried the costume off the rack. He held it up against his body. Greg looked starstruck, honestly. It was a devil costume, but it was the sexiest, yet classiest, devil costume he’d ever seen. There were black pants and a black dress shirt, complete with a flowing red cape and red horns on a headband. 

Greg grabbed the headband and reached up so he could place it on Jeff’s head. Then Greg covered his mouth with his hand.

“What?” Jeff asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Oh nothing, just that I’m definitely going to hell after what just went through my mind.” Greg ran his hand through his hair. There was a pause, then he turned back to Jeff. “Though, if you’re the devil then that’s probably okay.”

Jeff smirked. “I don’t think the devil and a cowboy are the best pairing.”

“Um, have you ever been to the midwest?” Greg threw his hands up. “Them country folk either fuck with the devil or they don’t, and if they fuck with the devil they are cool as all hell.”

“So, you’re gonna be one of them cool as hell country folk who fucks with the devil?”

“Or who gets _fucked_ by the devil,” Greg whispered. “Depending on how the night goes.”

“Now we definitely have to find a cowboy costume. You can’t just wear a hat.” Jeff grabbed Greg’s shoulder. “You need a bandana, boots, everything.”

“Are you _sure_ you don’t have a thing for cowboys—“

“—I have a thing for _you_ dressed a cowboy.” Jeff interrupted him. “Now let’s be quick, I wanna make out with you somewhere.”

Greg smiled and bit his lip before sifting through all the clothes on the racks around them. Jeff kept the devil costume he’d found hanging on his arm because he was definitely buying it. They looked for almost ten minutes until Greg found one he liked, and they strutted up to the counter together to buy them. It was a little more than Jeff was expecting, but it was okay. He had the money, and this Halloween he wanted to look _good_.

After they’d bought the costumes they returned to Jeff’s car, placing them delicately in the back—just kidding, they kind of threw them in the back, but Jeff wasn’t planning on that. Greg caught him off guard. He’d thrown his in the back and immediately grabbed Jeff so he could kiss him, and because Jeff obviously wanted to kiss him back he threw his costume as well. 

Before it got too heated though, Jeff stopped Greg and pushed him back into his own seat. Greg wiped his mouth and pouted.

“Hang on, we’ll go somewhere less ‘on display’.” Jeff started the car. “And we can make out until dinner time if you want.”

“Oh, yes please. And keep the devil horns on.” Greg buckled his seat belt.

“I’m horny in more ways than one.” Jeff laughed a little.

Greg laughed as well. “That is true. Now let’s get to wherever the hell you were gonna drive us.” 

Jeff stepped hard on the gas, zooming away from their parking spot and probably leaving a skid mark there. They drove in a comfortable silence—with the radio on of course, which Greg was occasionally humming along to—and at one point in the drive, Greg placed his hand on Jeff’s thigh, like a cheesy romance movie or something.

Originally Jeff was going to take them back to his house because he knew that neither his brother nor dad were home, but instead he decided to drive out to Crystal Springs Park, which was a park right near a _massive_ lake. Jeff had been there a few times when he was younger when his family had the obligatory barbecues in the summer. They stopped going a few years ago, and a lot the family had stopped talking to Jeff’s dad. However, Jeff still loved the place. It was peaceful, and because it was after a school day pretty much no one would be there.

Greg was watching peacefully out of the window as Jeff drove, his ankle crossed over his knee.

“Hey Greg?”

Greg looked over at him. “Yes, darling?”

For a moment Jeff just smiled. “What are you thinking about?”

“First of all, I’m thinking about where the hell you’re driving me, but secondly I’m thinking about the weekend.” he leaned his head back onto the headrest. 

“Because it’s Halloween?”

Greg nodded and pat Jeff’s leg once. “Well, yes, but also no.”

“Why?” Jeff turned off the road they were on into a slightly less cared for road that led to the park.

“I’m excited for Halloween obviously, but I’m also just excited to be going to Ryan’s house with you. We do it every year and each year he gets alcohol and we go batshit insane.” Greg told him. “Last year Wayne invited along Jonathan and Monty, which I’m sure he’ll do again this year, and they climbed onto Ryan’s roof and almost fucking fell off.”

Jeff’s eyes widened. “Oh wow.”

“I know.” Greg grinned. “And now you get to come.”

Jeff finally pulled into a parking spot and he stopped the car. “Lucky me.”

“It’ll be so fun, don’t worry. I’m gonna be right by your side the entire time.” Greg leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Jeff smiled and unbuckled himself before climbing out of the car and stretching his back. He turned around and saw Greg getting out as well, shutting the door with his foot. Then Greg ran around the car and grabbed Jeff’s hand.

“Where are we?” he looked around.

“Crystal Springs Park. See that lake over there? I’m gonna push you into it.” Jeff pointed at the obvious lake that was a bit away from them.

“Not if I push you first,” Greg started walking towards it, tugging Jeff along by his hand.

“Well, if you’re gonna push me in at least let me take off my clothes.” Jeff had accepted his fate, but he didn’t want his clothes to suffer with him. Greg looked back and wiggled his eyebrows.

“If I get to see you in just your underwear then of course.” Greg pulled Jeff along the jetty that was protruding from the shore. Jeff managed to pull his hand back from Greg’s grip and he held out his hands to protect himself. Greg was doing the same thing, a devilish grin on his face.

Jeff edged a little closer, then he pointed violently behind Greg. “What’s that?”

Greg whipped around and when he did Jeff leapt onto him, trying to grab him so he could throw him into the water. Unfortunately, Greg realised what was happening and he fought back, also trying to grab Jeff so he could do the same thing. Jeff definitely underestimated how strong Greg was because Greg wrapped his arms around Jeff’s torso and managed to get his leg behind Jeff’s, kicking it in and making Jeff tumble down with Greg landing on top of him.

Even when they were on the ground they still struggled. But Greg kept his legs on either side of Jeff, trapping him in that spot, and in a brief moment when Jeff wasn’t really paying attention Greg grabbed his wrists and held him down.

“Okay, okay fine. You win,” Jeff laughed. Greg smiled smugly and leaned down to kiss Jeff.

There was a completely different vibe to kissing Greg outside than inside. For one, the sun was shining on them and two, nature was exciting. There also seemed to be _more_ passion to their kisses lately, as if they really couldn’t get enough of each other. Jeff certainly felt that way; he just wanted to kiss Greg all day long. 

Greg loosened his grip on Jeff’s wrists and trailed one hand along Jeff’s arm and cupped his face softly. Jeff immediately looped his arms around Greg’s neck, swiping his tongue across Greg’s lips and pulling them closer together. One of Jeff’s hands held the back of Greg’s head, his fingers loosely playing with the curls. 

Greg lightly tugged on Jeff’s lip with his teeth as he pulled away. Jeff’s breath was shorter than normal and his heart rate was also faster than normal. Maybe it was the thrill of being outside. Greg pushed himself up and stretched upwards. If his shirt wasn’t tucked in, his stomach would be exposed.

Jeff propped himself up on his elbows and brought his knees up behind Greg. “Do you wanna jump into the lake?”

“One moment,” Greg strained, still stretching. Then he relaxed and leaned his own elbows onto Jeff’s knees. “Let’s go jump into that motherfucking lake.”

They both got up and immediately began stripping down. There was no way they’d jump into the lake with their clothes on. They weren’t idiots. Jeff got his shirt off first, so he stopped Greg and took his off for him, his arms extending all the way up in the process. Greg raised an eyebrow and pulled Jeff closer by hooking his fingers into Jeff’s jeans before undoing the belt, all while looking Jeff in the eyes. Then he pressed a kiss onto Jeff’s bare chest.

“Be careful, I might just forget about the lake altogether.” Jeff grinned. Greg pulled Jeff’s belt out of his pants and spun in a circle.

“That might not be a bad thing.” Greg flirted, winking at Jeff. Jeff rolled his eyes and let his pants fall so he was left in just his boxers. Greg eyed him and clenched Jeff’s belt between his teeth. Jeff pretended to flex and Greg fanned his face comically, making both of them laugh.

Once Greg’s pants were finally down and he was in his boxers, they stood at the edge of the dock together.

“Count of three?”

“One,”

“Two,”

“Three!” Jeff pushed Greg in first, doubling over with laughter as he tumbled into the water. He heard a yelp then a splash, which made him laugh even harder. He sat down and dangled his legs over the side.

“How dare you!” Greg breathed as he surfaced, his glasses in his hand. “That was mean.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get in eventually.”

“Eventually? Bitch you’re coming in now.” 

Greg reached up and grabbed Jeff’s legs, pulling as hard as he could until Jeff was also tumbling down into the water. He honestly wasn’t expecting the water to be so cold, and he immediately felt goosebumps form all over his body. He wiped his face and ran a hand through his hair.

“Fuck it's cold.” he laughed shakily. Greg squinted at him.

“Is it?” 

Jeff nodded. “Mmhmm. Come here.”

He reached forward and pulled Greg closer, hugging him. Greg gave his glasses to Jeff and asked him to throw them back up onto the dock, which he actually managed to do without breaking them. 

“Only issue is, I can’t see.” Greg hiked his legs up and wrapped them around Jeff’s waist, his arms now around Jeff’s neck and shoulders. 

“That’s okay, you normally don’t have your eyes open when you’re kissing me.” Jeff shrugged. 

“How do you know?”

Jeff cringed. “The thought of that makes me so uncomfortable.”

Greg laughed. “Don’t worry, my eyes are always closed.”

“Good.” Jeff smiled and kissed Greg, keeping his arms tight around Greg’s torso. Greg kissed him once, then again, then he moved to Jeff’s cheek and just below his jawline, which secretly Jeff _loved_. He wondered if Greg knew that, and if that was why he did it so often. Jeff reached up and tilted Greg’s head back towards his own and recaptured his lips.

He felt Greg smile against his lips and he whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you more.” Jeff grinned too.


	15. Happy Mother-Fucking Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Halloween. There's not much else I can say.

The door opened to reveal Ryan, who was unsurprisingly dressed as Frankenstein’s Monster. He had fake bolts stuck around his neck and he had probably raided his mother’s makeup to give him the dead look he needed.

Greg gave him a thumbs up and pushed past him into the house. Jeff followed behind him, having driven him there. When Jeff arrived at Greg’s house to pick him up, Greg seriously contemplated skipping Ryan’s party. His already handsome boyfriend was wearing the devil outfit he’d bought, complete with the horns and flowing cape, but he had managed to get a seriously sultry makeup look going on, with lipstick and eyeshadow that only made Greg even more attracted to him. He’d also styled his hair into a super sexy quiff.

“Well, hello to you too,” Ryan said sarcastically. Jeff grinned. 

Greg looked back at him. “Don’t you mean… howdy?”

Greg tipped his cowboy hat and twirled his fake gun on his finger before pretending to shoot it at Ryan and blow it out. Ryan rolled his eyes but he gave Greg a hug anyway. His outfit was very cowboy; he had the hat and the boots, obviously. He had donned some dark jeans (his belt buckle was golden), a light denim shirt and a vest with a sheriff star to top it all off. Greg also had a red bandana around his neck, but he was almost certain would be discarded later by a very horny and drunk devil. 

“Welcome to the party, we’ve got booze and a fuck ton of food,” Ryan told him.

“Who else is here?” Jeff asked, grabbing Greg back from Ryan and hugging him from behind.

“Colin’s here,” Ryan looked around. “And Brad. Wayne and Jonathan haven’t arrived yet.”

“What about Monty?”

“He’s not coming.” Ryan folded his arms. “Wayne said he was grounded or something.”

Greg felt Jeff rest his chin on Greg’s shoulder. “Oh well. I barely knew him anyway.”

“Same.” Ryan agreed. “Right, you two go to the upstairs living room, I’ll be at the door until the other two come.”

Greg started walking despite Jeff holding onto him, forcing Jeff to follow close behind. He could hear music coming from upstairs, and most of the lights in the house were off except for the few strobe-ish ones upstairs. Jeff overtook him on the staircase because his legs were so damn long that he was able to skip two steps with every step. Greg decided to walk slowly up the staircase because he knew if he went fast he’d be out of breath. Jeff stood proudly at the top, leering down at Greg.

“You’re slow.” he grinned.

“No, I’m just unfit. And not in a rush, like you.” Greg quipped.

He looked around. The landing was pretty big: across the room from the stairs was a couch that was pushed all the way into the corner, which had Colin sitting cross-legged on it; and next to the couch was a long table pressed against the wall. It had all the alcohol that Ryan could find on it, set upon a pretty fancy tablecloth. The wall that was adjacent to the staircase a second couch, on which was Brad stretched completely across it, his feet hanging off the end. In the middle of the room were a circular rug and a few pillows that had been thrown off the couches. 

“Look, Colin, it’s the gayest couple since Oscar Wilde and Alfred Douglas.” Brad pointed at them, interrupting the conversation they were having. He was amazingly dressed as Gomez Addams, complete with slicked-back hair and a slimming pinstriped suit—not that Brad needed slimming.

“What on _Earth_ is that reference? Yikes.” Greg said in awe as he walked towards him. He placed his hands on his hips. “But yes, it is.”

Jeff slid his arms around Greg’s waist from behind, through Greg’s arms, and he hooked his thumbs into the front of Greg’s pants. “I wouldn’t say we’re the gayest.”

“Why? We’re pretty gay, Jeff.” Greg craned his head back to see Jeff. He heard Colin and Brad laugh.

“Oscar Wilde has had sex, we haven’t. Therefore, not the gayest.” Jeff whispered into his ear. Greg shivered and his cheeks went a little red, but he nodded because it was true. 

“We’re not the gayest. _Yet._ ” he responded flirtily, placing his hands on top of Jeff’s.

Jeff smiled and kissed Greg on the cheek. Greg ducked away from him with a small smile and he looked at Colin and Brad, who had gone back to having their own conversation. Colin was dressed as what Greg thought looked like a human disco. He had an afro and was wearing the brightest clothes Greg had ever seen him wear.

“Yo, Gomez,” Greg called out to Brad and he looked back at Greg.

“Yes, Clint Eastwood?” Brad returned, his eyebrow raising. “Why are you a cowboy?”

Greg was about to say that Jeff had a thing for cowboys and that was why he did it, but Jeff covered Greg’s mouth with his hand and answered for him. Greg furrowed his eyebrows and looked back as much as he could.

“Doesn’t he just look so sexy?” Jeff said lustfully. Greg tried so fucking hard not to blush but he couldn’t help it when Jeff leaned down and kissed his neck. He grabbed Jeff’s hand from his mouth and glared at him, but he couldn’t stay mad at him. Brad wolf-whistled and Greg glared at _him_ instead.

“Honey, you’re only digging yourself deeper into the hole of ‘cowboy kink’.” Greg also grabbed Jeff’s other hand from his belt, because he had a feeling that if he let Jeff keep it there, he might sneak his hand down inside Greg’s pants. 

Colin looked at him strangely. “Cowboy kink?”

“Don’t ask.” Greg waved it off, but side-eyed Jeff.

He waved his hands dramatically at Brad, forcing him to move his legs so he and Jeff could sit down. Even then they sat with no space between them, and Jeff reached his arm around so it rested on Greg’s shoulders. Brad and Colin continued to talk while they were waiting for Wayne and Jonathan to arrive. Then the real party could start.

“—there was one time during elementary when during science we had these plastic cups and we, uh, we filled it with paper towels and we put seeds in it? And you know, it was supposed to grow.” Brad explained. “Well, mine didn’t even grow, which shows how bad at gardening I am, but this kid Jared’s grew probably about twenty centimetres long. It was so big. So I switched, our cups and took the credit for myself, and when Jared found out he, he—“

Brad started giggling and Greg looked at him in wonder. “Wow. You actually did that?”

“Hey, I was like, nine. My life of crime had only just started.” Brad defended, still laughing a little. “But he tried to fight me and when I hit him in his arm he started crying, and he sold me out to the teacher.”

Colin’s eyebrows were raised, then a smile came onto his face. “One time we were learning about electricity so we had these cardboard boxes with holes in them, so we could stick batteries and lightbulbs into them, and the bulb exploded in my hand. I don’t know what I did wrong.”

Jeff threw his head back in laughter and he grabbed Greg’s shoulders. 

They all turned their heads to the stairs when they heard people starting to come up. First Ryan’s head emerged, because of how tall he was, then Jonathan and Wayne appeared. They were dressed up as Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, which wasn’t surprising at all (Wayne was Han, Jonathan was Luke). When all the kids would be trick-or-treating the next night there would be so many Star Wars costumes.

“Nice of you to join us, mi amigos!” Jeff threw his hand up. Wayne threw up a hang ten sign and Jonathan waved. Ryan looked at him strangely and sat down next to Colin. Wayne and Jonathan both sat on some of the pillows that were on the floor cross-legged.

“You have lipstick on your cheek _and_ your neck and no one has had any alcohol yet,” Ryan said, looking at Greg. He touched his face and felt the lipstick that was apparently there. He heard Jeff giggle next to him and he side-eyed him. 

“It’s not my fault.”

“Counterpoint. It’s his fault for lookin’ so damn good. How could I not kiss that?” Jeff argued and laughed when Greg elbowed him. 

Ryan then clapped his hands together. “Okay. So most of you know how this is gonna go.”

Greg clapped a hand onto Jeff’s thigh and winked. Jeff smiled and also winked.

“We are gonna get fucking smashed tonight, and we are gonna party like a bunch of gay teenagers would party, and we’re gonna play a whole bunch of fun as fuck party games like truth or dare, spin the bottle, which we’ve never done before, so get ready for that,” Ryan winked, “Never have I ever, two truths and a lie, and so on. It’ll be so much fun once we’re all drunker than a sailor, yeah?”

They all nodded and agreed. The excitement was growing in Greg’s heart. He couldn’t wait to play spin the bottle, because they hadn’t played it before. They would probably play it when they were too drunk to fully comprehend what they were doing, but by that point, it wouldn’t matter. 

“When we eventually play spin the bottle, if someone, say, for example, me, spins it and it lands on Jeff three times, what if we do seven minutes in heaven?” Greg suggested, the idea suddenly coming to mind. “Like, y’all would have to go into the closet or the bathroom or whatever.”

“Oh my god, that’s genius!” Jeff chimed in. “Yes, let’s do that.”

Ryan laughed. “Sure, but first, let’s get drunk, ladies.”

He got up and grabbed a bottle of vodka, popping it open the moment a punchier song started playing. He poured it out into seven different glasses and they all got up and grabbed one each.

“Cheers, everyone, and happy Halloween,” Ryan said and sculled it down. They all cheered and did the same. Now the real party was starting. Greg reached over to the stereo and cranked it up so if they whispered they definitely wouldn’t be able to hear one another. Immediately everyone dived off into their own conversations, Ryan going to Colin, Brad joining Wayne and Jonathan, and Greg turned around to Jeff, who was right behind him as usual. 

Jeff stole Greg’s cowboy hat and placed it on top of his horns, so he could run a hand through Greg’s hair. 

“Why’d you take my hat?” Greg laughed, refilling both of their drinks. 

“Because your hair is beautiful?” Jeff argued playfully. “And I look great like this.”

Greg looked him up and down. “Well, you already looked sexy. That lipstick though, _damn_.”

He pulled Jeff closer and kissed him. Then, he pulled away and licked his lips. “I didn’t know lipstick could have a flavour.”

“Me neither, but I found that out today when I put it on.” Jeff drank some of his drink. “I made Bill buy it for me, so I didn’t know what I was gettin’. It could’ve been bright yellow if I had pissed him off.”

“I would’ve kissed you either way.” Greg shrugged, bopping a bit to the music. He snatched his hat back from Jeff and bit his lip, making his dance moves a bit more obvious. Jeff openly ogled him, and he stepped back just a little bit so he could watch. 

Ryan came over, interrupting Greg from seducing Jeff with his amazing dance moves. Greg took the time instead to drink some more of his drink. It was starting to get to his head already, and he didn’t know if it was the just the party mood or the fact that he was a bit of a lightweight.

“It’s early but I need your help, guys,” Ryan brought the two of them aside so it was just the three of them. “I know you guys know I like Colin.”

“What? No _fucking_ way.” Greg scoffed. Jeff laughed and Greg looked at him smugly.

Ryan narrowed his eyes. “I was thinking maybe I should ask him out tonight, but—”

“Do it do it do it. Totally do it. Yes. Do it.” Jeff kept repeating himself, then he drank the rest of his second drink. Greg nodded and slid his arm around Jeff’s waist, resting his head against Jeff’s. Jeff turned and kissed the side of Greg’s head, and Greg ‘awed’. Ryan looked at both of them strangely.

“Are you guys gonna be extremely flirty and sexual when you’re drunk? Because I don’t know if I wanna be around that.” Ryan held his hands up in defence, and he giggled a little. 

“You mean, more than we usually are?” Greg pointed out. “No one here is going to judge us so the answer is yes.”

Ryan closed his eyes for a second before speaking again. “Anyway, I don’t know if it’s a good idea to ask him out—”

“—Oh, it’s a _really_ good idea.” Jeff stopped him and leaned close. “‘Cause he likes you back, bro.”

Greg started laughing at Ryan’s reaction, which was slack jaw, confused eyebrows, glazed over eyes and slightly red cheeks. Although, Greg didn’t know if it was actually his cheeks or the lighting in the room because it was kinda dark. 

“Let’s let him sit on that for a bit. I think he’ll be speechless for a while.” Jeff pushed Greg away from Ryan and they wandered over to the couch they were originally sitting in. Jeff sat down in the corner and Greg purposefully sat down on his lap, wiggling his butt a little bit so he could get _real_ comfy (he swore he heard Jeff make a little grunt).

Then he scooted around so he was facing perpendicular to Jeff, and he extended his legs out onto the couch. Jeff placed his glass down on Greg’s lap and took Greg’s from his hands, drinking the rest from it.

“I guess I won’t be needing that.” Greg commented, a grin appearing on his face. Jeff then put the empty glass onto Greg’s lap with the other one.

“There’s heaps more.” Jeff gestured to wherever the alcohol was, a soft smile on his face.

They sat and talked for a bit, every once in a while someone coming over and joining their conversation, then leaving because of the overwhelming amount of flirting that was happening. At one point Greg pulled Jeff up to dance and they danced, then made out in the middle of the room, then Ryan pulled the two of them apart.

“Lovebirds, it’s time for Truth or Dare.” his speech was starting to get a little slurred, but not too much. Jeff and Greg cheered, then everyone sat in a circle. For some reason, they avoided the couches and sat on the floor instead. Jeff had crawled in front of Greg and leaned back onto him, and Greg wrapped his arms around the front so he could hold Jeff’s hands.

Brad called dibs on going first, so he sat up a bit. “Alright…. Colin. Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” he said blankly.

“When’s…” Brad furrowed his brow. “When’s the last time you took a shower?”

“Like two hours ago,” he said, laughing a little. “I’m a clean person.”

Greg made a noise that sounded like a disagreement, for what reason he didn’t know, but thankfully no one caught it except Jeff. Colin looked at Jeff.

“You. Truth or dare?” 

Jeff looked up at Greg for a second. “Uh, dare.”

“Okay, let Greg draw on your arms until your next turn.”

Greg smiled widely and he looked down at Jeff who looked a little perplexed but he nodded. “Alright. Get this fella a pen.”

Ryan got up and went to look for a pen, and Jeff sat up so he could take off his cape. When it was off he threw it off towards the couch and he started rolling up the sleeves to his dress shirt. Greg fanned himself sarcastically and the others laughed. Jeff leaned back onto Greg and Ryan came back with a pen, handing it to Greg.

“Oh what to draw, what to draw.” he mused, uncapping it. “Keep going, kids.”

He picked up Jeff’s left arm and starting drawing tiny pictures while Jeff asked Wayne truth or dare. Wayne ended up having to hold a handstand for at least a minute, then Wayne asked Jonathan if he’d ever gone skinny dipping. The answer surprised Greg (it was yes). Jonathan gave Brad a dare to quack like a duck every time Jonathan snapped his fingers, and Brad asked Ryan what his current crush’s personality was like. The entire time Greg could tell he was trying not to make it obvious that he was describing Colin, but since Greg knew, it wasn’t working. He snickered at Ryan when he struggled for words.

Weirdly enough, Greg ran out of room on Jeff’s left arm, so he admired his work. The entire time Jeff had been watching him, and he pointed to his favourites. On the back of Jeff’s hand, he’d drawn a love heart with ‘G + J’ written inside it. It was cheesy and kinda gross, Greg knew that, but it was also cute. He’d also drawn a fat cat that was wearing a cowboy hat, and the cat was saying ‘I eat sock.’ Jeff was giggling at it while Greg was drawing it, even though it wasn’t that funny.

Greg heard his name and he looked up to Ryan, who had said it.

“Truth or dare?”

“In cowboy speak please?” he cupped his ear and Jeff laughed, clapping his hands once.

Ryan snickered and took a deep breath. “Oi, fucker. Wouldja like a truf’ or dare?”

Everyone was trying to hold back their laughter and they all turned to Greg, who snorted and almost fell backwards.

“Dare,” he answered. 

“You and Jeff have to not be touching for five minutes,” Ryan told him immediately.

“What? Did you come prepared or something?” Greg spat, suddenly defensive. Jeff narrowed his eyes.

Ryan and Colin started laughing together and they high-fived, meaning they thought of it together. Greg rolled his eyes but he pushed reluctantly pushed Jeff off him and Jeff sat next to him, looking a little sad—oh, now he was looking at Greg with puppy dog eyes.

“Look what you’ve done, now he’s sad.” Greg pointed at Jeff. Jeff laughed for a moment before putting his sad face back on.

Greg thought for a moment and raised his eyebrows, glancing towards Ryan and Colin. Jeff looked at him blankly for a couple of seconds but then he suddenly seemed to be on the same wavelength as Greg and nodded. Greg looked directly at Ryan, trying to hide his smile.

“Okay. Truth or dare, Frankenstein.” he had thought of something that would make both Colin and Ryan regret doing that to him. The dare they gave him wasn’t even that big a deal, but the fact that they came prepared made him feel weird. It was payback time.

“Dare, partner,” Ryan said, completely unaware of what was going to happen.

Greg shared a look with Jeff. “Make out with Colin. For at least thirty seconds.”

The circle erupted into wolf whistles and laughter. Colin blushed and Ryan looked like he was going to punch Greg. Brad laughed the hardest and he ended up coughing into his arm. Wayne and Jonathan both looked confused but they were still pushing for it to happen.

Jeff sat up more and leaned into the circle. “Do it, otherwise Greg and I will do it and make you all uncomfortable.”

“Oh yeah, we can get _very_ into it.” Greg played along, smirking at Jeff, who winked. Ryan sighed and he looked at Colin, who shrugged as if he wasn’t nervous, but _woah_ , he looked nervous.

“Okay, someone count,” Ryan said as he leaned in with no hesitation. Their lips connected and they began to move together. A few people were counting, and others were whistling as they somehow got more and more into it. It helped that they were a bit tipsy, to be fair.

Greg slapped a hand onto Jeff’s thigh and Jeff held his hand up for a high five, which Greg gladly accepted. Wayne, who was sitting next to Greg, leaned closer.

“What the hell is going on?” he asked, one eyebrow raised. 

“Oh, Ryan and Colin have a crush on one another but they're too pussy to do anything about it,” Greg explained.

“So Greg and I did it for them.” Jeff finished. “We called it Operation: Get Colin and Ryan to Hook Up’.”

Wayne started laughing at the name and he held up his hand in an ‘ok’ sign. “Smart.”

“Ain’t it? I mean, look at them.” Greg pointed at Ryan and Colin. “I bet it’s been longer than a minute.”

It hadn’t been, but it felt like it. They were still making out, but now it was more slow and loving. Ryan was cupping Colin’s cheek and Colin had his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. Brad cleared his throat and they broke apart, eyes wide and lips wet from kissing. 

“It’s been about an hour,” Jonathan said sarcastically, and Wayne laughed.  
Ryan smiled at Colin, then he glared at Greg, but then he gave him a secret thumbs up. “Are you satisfied now?”

“Are you?” Greg quipped, then he glanced between Jeff and Ryan. “Has it been five minutes yet? Can I kiss my boyfriend?”

Ryan sighed and threw his hands up in exasperation. It definitely hadn’t been five minutes but Ryan was clearly over it already. Greg tipped his cowboy hat and leaned over to kiss Jeff’s cheek.

“Aww.” Jeff cooed.

“Okay, I’m done with truth or dare. Greg ruined it for me.” Ryan announced. Greg muttered defensively to himself whilst Colin agreed, and immediately he stood up and stretched, reaching over to the stereo and turning it back up. Wayne announced he was going to go outside and Jonathan followed him, hopefully to make sure he wouldn’t end up on the roof again. Brad joined Ryan and Colin on the couch.

Jeff looked down at his arm again and all the drawings that Greg had done. The two of them got up and Greg moved to lean against the handrail for the stairs. Jeff stood next to him and leaned on the rail. They chatted for a while, every now and again getting another drink. 

After one of the times Greg had gone and grabbed drinks he grabbed Jeff’s hand and kissed it. “Howdy, dear sir.”

“Good evening.” Jeff raised his eyebrow suggestively. “Who may you be?”

“Gregory’s the name, my darling,” Greg said with a low voice. He handed Jeff his drink. “Yer a mighty handsome devil.”

Jeff giggled. “Thank you, Gregory. You know, I have a thing for boys like you.”

“You do?” Greg asked. “What is it about me?”

“Your dashing good looks, for one.” Jeff flirted, openly looking Greg up and down, leaning onto the railing. “Your bandana looks very cute.”

Greg grinned and also leaned onto the railing, resting his hand on Jeff’s. “What’s your name, sugar?”

“Jeffrey.” Jeff tapped his hand along Greg’s arm. 

Greg furrowed his brow and paused for a few seconds. “Why are we doing this?”

“I don’t know, you started it.” Jeff shrugged. “I’m just playing along.”

“Then how about we skip to the good part, eh?” Greg raised his eyebrows and grinned. He took his hat off and threw it across the room. Then he grabbed Jeff’s waist, pulling him closer. He kissed him and Jeff wrapped a hand around the back of Greg’s neck, holding him close. Greg felt his face heat up, even though it shouldn’t have because he’d been kissing Jeff for over a month and he should be used to it. But even still, he always felt a rush whenever their lips touched and he felt Jeff’s tender fingers on his skin. He slipped his tongue between Jeff’s lips and tightened his grip on Jeff’s waist, tempted to untuck Jeff’s shirt. 

Jeff suddenly broke away and Greg opened his eyes to see Jeff quickly downing the rest of his drink. Then he grabbed Greg’s and drank it, making Greg laugh, then he turned and put both glasses down on a nearby table. With a grin, Greg grabbed each side of Jeff’s face and kissed him three short times, then smiled into what became a long kiss filled with drunken passion. 

They broke apart when they heard a pointed cough over the loud music. Greg closed his eyes and hung his head, hitting it against Jeff’s chest.

“Is this all you guys ever do?” he heard Ryan ask.

“Pfft… _no_.” Jeff scoffed. Greg was still cupping Jeff’s cheeks and Jeff had his hands on Greg’s back. “We also… talk.”

“You don’t sound so sure.” Ryan laughed. “It’s fine dude, but like, you guys aren’t alone. There are other people you can talk to. Me, for example.”

Greg leaned up and whispered into Jeff’s ear, “I wish we were alone.” 

“Soon.” Jeff patted Greg’s shoulder. Ryan stared at them blankly and suddenly shouted out.

“Okay! Never Have I Ever time. If you’ve done the thing, you drink a bit. The winner, or loser, whatever, is whoever finishes their drink first. Then everyone will decide a reward or punishment.”

Jeff went and grabbed two bottles for him and Greg, and they stayed in their place at the stairs. 

“I don’t think I could possibly drink any more,” Greg looked repulsively at the beer. “But okay.”

“Just lie and say you’ve had no life, then you won’t have to drink,” Jeff suggested, as Colin turned down the music. Ryan had gone outside and fetched Wayne and Jonathan, and Brad, apparently.

“They’ll probably suggest things they know I’ve done.” Greg leaned his head onto Jeff’s shoulder. He breathed in. “You smell good.”

“Oh, uh—I, thank you.” Jeff smiled back and ruffled Greg’s hair.

The game went by pretty darn quickly, but Greg had a suspicion that it was the fact they were drinking and getting more and more drunk as the night went on. As expected, everyone’s speech patterns had changed from understandable to ‘can you repeat yourself?’ None of them drank when Jonathan said ‘Never Have I Ever had sex’, but Jeff was standing a little closer to Greg after that, and the arm that was around Greg’s waist tightened a little.

Things started getting more hectic when they started playing spin the bottle. They were drunk enough to have no worries about it like Greg had imagined. The empty beer bottle from Never Have I Ever—Wayne lost—was used for the bottle. Greg had only drunk a little bit from his during that game since the smell of the beer was making him feel a little sick. The seven of them sat in a circle just like they did for Truth or Dare, though for some reason they forced Jeff and Greg apart.

“I’ll go first,” Brad slurred, a shit-eating grin on his face—it was probably from the alcohol, Brad was never usually like this. Then he reached in and spun it, landing on Wayne. Wayne shrugged and got up without a second glance and leaned over to kiss Brad. It wasn’t just a peck either, it was full on the lips and for at least two seconds. Jeff jokingly wolf-whistled and laughter filled the room. When Wayne spun, he ended up kissing Colin. By the time it had spun around to Greg, Brad had kissed two people, one of them being Greg.

“Alright. I don’t wanna get my hopes up, but I hope it lands on you.” Greg pointed at Jeff. A few people laughed and watched as it spun pretty quickly in a circle. When it came to a stop on Jeff, Greg cheered. “Well! Whaddya know.”

He crawled over and kissed him _very_ eagerly, knocking him over just a bit. He heard Wayne wolf-whistle, and he flipped him off without looking. Jeff grinned into the kiss. When Greg finally pulled away he looked drunkenly at Jeff with doe eyes, then he scooted back to his seat. Wayne made a little love heart with his fingers and Greg winked.

After ten minutes, they were still playing. For some reason, it was the best thing they’d played all night. Greg wondered why they hadn’t done it before this year. Perhaps it was because they were all older now and they’d all had their first kisses. But Greg couldn’t see that as a factor since he stole Ryan and Colin’s first kisses by making them kiss each other in a dare years ago.

A while ago, before this game had even started, Jeff had been looking at him like he was the most attractive boy in the entire world. Now, he was occasionally biting his lip, looking Greg up and down, and blowing kisses in Greg’s direction. Greg was very aware of the fact that he’d kissed Jeff twice in this game of spin the bottle, thus meaning he could have seven minutes in heaven with him. What was running through his mind now would definitely be better kept to himself.

Greg stopped fiddling with his belt—which he hadn’t realised he was doing—and managed to tear his eyes off Jeff. Jonathan’s spin had landed on Jeff again and they pecked each other on the lips—which a lot of the other guys had started doing. The only two people who were really _really_ kissing were Jeff and Greg. Unless the others were and Greg wasn’t paying attention. He was definitely drunk.

Jeff spun it, and the second that the bottle stopped on Greg the others all wolf-whistled and cheered—which seemed to be happening a lot tonight. Jeff crawled over and kissed him eagerly.

“Tha’ means it’s seven minutes in heaven time for you two!” Brad exclaimed. 

Greg barely heard him because one, he was drunk, and two, Jeff was kissing him very passionately.

“You know, seven minutes in heaven is in a different room… for a _reason_.” Wayne laughed. He forced the two of them apart and only then did Greg look at them and take their words in. He blinked multiple times.

“Alright. We’re going to the bathroom. Bye suckers, see ya in seven minutes.”

Jeff got up and grabbed his hand, pulling him up and towards the bathroom. The second the door was shut Greg gripped Jeff’s shirt and walked him back towards the counter, kissing his neck. Jeff made a sound that was pretty close to a whimper and he held onto Greg’s arms.

“O-Oh—“ Jeff stammered. Greg smirked against Jeff’s neck and trailed his tongue up the pale column. Jeff’s ran his hands slowly and sensually through Greg’s hair, then his head was tugged back, and Jeff kissed him on the lips. Greg could taste the alcohol on his lips and the closeness of their bodies was doing things to Greg that reminded him of their most intimate times. 

He trailed his hand down Jeff’s body and around his waist, pulling him closer. Jeff hummed into the kiss and he tugged on Greg’s bandana until it came undone and he discarded it onto the floor. Jeff’s thumb ran circles on the back of Greg’s neck, an almost impatient feeling to it. 

When they finally pulled away so they could breathe, Greg rested his head in the crook of Jeff’s neck.

“How about I make this more interesting?” he whispered, bringing his hand around to the front of Jeff’s pants and to his belt. The metal of the buckle was surprisingly cold and he felt Jeff’s fingers around his, helping to get it undone.

“Oh, definitely yes.” Jeff sounded somewhat desperate and he grabbed both of Greg’s cheeks and kissed him before trailing kisses down to his neck. Greg slid his fingers down inside Jeff’s pants and winced—in delight—when Jeff bit down on his neck as he cupped Jeff’s bulge over his boxers. Stroking his fingers around him, he felt Jeff get harder and harder. Jeff breathed deeply, his teeth still attached to Greg’s neck—which Greg still thought was one of the best feelings in the world. Greg could feel the heat emitting from Jeff’s dick through the fabric and when he managed to pry Jeff off his neck, Greg pushed him back against the counter, a leering look in his eyes.

Honestly, Greg didn’t really know what he was doing. He’d done it for Jeff once before when they first started experimenting in that area. But that didn’t mean he knew what he was doing. At that time he just tried to replicate what he would do and it seemed to work. Now, he was tugging Jeff’s pants down just enough so he could also pull down his boxers, and he leaned close, planting little kisses on his collarbone and his neck.

“Hello sexy,” Greg bit his lip as Jeff’s cock unfurled itself. He loosely curled his fingers around it kissed the corner of Jeff’s mouth. Jeff had one arm looped around _both_ of Greg’s shoulders and his hand was loosely stroking Greg’s hair. It was still amazing to Greg that he was able to watch Jeff’s facial expressions change as he switched up what he was doing with his hands. For example, every time he sped up his strokes just a little bit Jeff would scrunch his eyebrows. 

Jeff pulled them together so they were kissing again, and he was clearly struggling to keep quiet because once their lips were locked together he let out a soft moan. Greg loved it, but he didn’t know if the others were listening in. It had been longer than seven minutes, he was sure of it. 

However, he wasn’t going to go back out there for at least a long while. Not when there was a sexy, horny, mostly drunk teenager between him and the counter. Greg gripped on tighter to Jeff’s dick and Jeff tilted his head back, letting another moan slip only this time it wasn’t hushed. Greg pressed soft kisses to his neck and up towards his ear.

“Shh,” Greg whispered, feeling a shudder next to him.

“Why?” Jeff managed.

“I don’t know if the others are listenin’ and either way you’re being noisy,” Greg said, his voice lilting up near the end of the sentence. “Trust me, _I_ love it.”

Jeff nodded. His face was flushed red and he looked around. “I get you. Okay, so like, give me somethin’ to bite down on that isn’t your fingers.”

Greg glanced down at the floor and saw the bandana. “That works.”

He kneeled down to get it and stayed down on his knees. He handed it to Jeff, who managed to stuff it into his mouth the second Greg touched his lips to the tip of Jeff’s cock. Greg heard the sound of a muffled gasp coming from Jeff and he swirled his tongue around Jeff. His drunken mind had taken over and he was sucking eagerly, tracing his tongue up and down and every so often placing little kisses to Jeff’s stomach and hips. Jeff’s hands were gripping the counter and if Greg glanced up—Jeff’s head was tilted up towards the ceiling. 

If Greg wasn’t so drunk he might’ve remembered more of what happened, but he knew that Jeff came and he came _hard_. Jeff grabbed his hand as he came, a helpless, muted moan emitting from his throat. Greg didn’t swallow, because it was disgusting, but he spat it into the sink and washed it down with some water.

Next to him, Jeff was breathing deeply. He tugged his pants up and turned around to look at Greg in the mirror. “Oh boy.”

Greg couldn’t stop himself from smiling, and he washed his hands. “Was it good?”

“Did my reaction not tell you?” Jeff breathed, making short work of tucking his shirt back in. 

Greg laughed, turning his body towards Jeff. “Happy Halloween.”

“Happy mother-fuckin’ Halloween.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i send Greg pictures of my cat on Twitter and on the most recent one he replied 'so cutes' 
> 
> i'm still ecstatic


	16. Four Seasons Of Love, Donna Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg's week gets off to a bad start and a bad ending. Overall, this week sucks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a warning, there are a lot of slurs and foul language in this chapter.

Despite such an amazing weekend, Greg really wasn’t having the best week.

Yesterday he was hungover. That was easy to get around. Today, he was in a buttload of pain for no good reason. The only reason he could think of was his injuries from getting beaten up, but that was _weeks_ ago. The bruises were pretty much all gone. His back was creaky, his stomach felt like it was being stretched constantly and his neck was persistently uncomfortable. The pain had been coming and going for the past few weeks and easing off as time went on, but it felt as if it happened yesterday.

Maybe he was just weak. Maybe he was just incredibly sensitive. To be fair, he was beaten pretty severely. He was a little surprised he managed to stay awake for so long after it happened. Ninety-nine per cent of the time he felt completely fine. However, there were times when it wouldn’t leave his mind and it hurt just thinking about it. Especially when he caught Drew glaring at him or Chip bumped into him in the hallway. 

He tugged down the sleeves to his sweater. It was November now, it was going to start getting colder quicker. He had a scarf on too, but that was mainly to hide the hickey Jeff had given him at Ryan’s party. It was already a bit chilly, but by the end, there was a possibility of snow. It never stuck to the ground, but it was there. Before he headed to the guys at the table he made a beeline for his locker. He didn’t use it much but he’d left his art journal in there over the weekend and he had art first. Luckily, it was only on the second floor so he didn’t have to go all the way up only to go all the way down again. There were usually quite a few people mingling on this floor before school, hanging around their own lockers. He weaved through them expertly and made eye contact with no one. As he got closer to his locker people starting turning to their friends and whispering, which didn’t make him feel good at all. 

When he got to his locker, he could see why people were talking.

This wasn’t helping his week get any better. In fact, it made it so much worse. The word ‘fag’ was scratched into it. On his locker, in big scratchy letters. In plain sight. He didn’t know how long it had been there. Someone, who leaning against a locker a few feet away snickered, waiting to see what he would do. The back of his neck burned and he looked down at the ground, feeling everyone’s eyes on him. It was as if their words were getting louder and louder, repeating themselves in his ears. He had no idea what to do. He couldn’t react, that’s what _they_ wanted. But he also couldn’t just stand there forever, staring at it. 

Eventually, he decided he didn’t need his book. He tried to swallow but his throat was so dry that nothing happened, and he nodded. He looked around and pushed through the crowd. Although pushed wouldn’t be the right word. They parted like he was Moses and they were the fucking red sea.

He wanted to jump out of the window. Or fall down the stairs so badly he could barely recover. Or curl into a ball and cry for hours. Or hide. He didn’t know. He wanted to do so many things but he knew he couldn’t do any of them. Part of him knew that being gay wasn’t a good thing, according to society, but it wasn’t his fault he liked guys. If he was straight maybe he wouldn’t be treated like this. No, he _definitely_ wouldn’t be treated like this. He’d probably laugh at the fact a slur was permanently imprinted on his locker.

He stopped walking once he got into his homeroom. With a sudden burst of energy, he dropped his bag off his shoulder and threw it across the room towards where he and Jeff usually sat. 

“Woah, woah, woah!”

Greg snapped his head to the voice and tried to blink away the sudden watery glaze over his eyes. 

The kid who spoke pointed at where Greg’s bag landed and then back at him. “What’d you that for?”

“Who the fuck are you?” Greg huffed. “And mind your business.”

“I can’t exactly, let’s say, ‘mind my business’ when you’re throwin’ shit across the room.” he raised an eyebrow and looked Greg up and down. “I’m Neil.”

Greg scowled and climbed onto Mr Anderson’s desk, cringing at the weird creakiness in his back. “Greg.”

“I know.” Neil stood up, the chair sliding back behind him. He started walking towards Greg. “You sit next to Jeff.”

“How do you know Jeff?” Greg brought his legs up onto the desk slowly. Neil stopped walking when he got to the front row of desks and he leaned onto one. 

“We went to middle school together. Gay as a blue jay, he is. And sexy too, damn.” Neil bit his lip and cocked his head to the side. “Don’t you think?”

It felt like Greg’s throat was twice the size. “Excuse me?”

“Oh come on. Don’t you think Jeff is cute?” Neil lowered his voice.

“Of-Of course I find him cute,” Greg’s breathing was unnaturally fast. “He’s charming, too .”

Neil nodded. “I heard he’s seeing someone.”

“Really?” Greg played along, even though he was as nervous as the turkeys around Thanksgiving.

“A lot of people are sayin’ Jeffy is dating a girl, but they don’t all know he’s gay so,” Neil shrugged. “He’s dating a guy. Who do you think it is?”

“Why are we gossiping about him?”

Neil brushed his fringe out of his face and rested a hand on his hip. “Who isn’t?”

“So… so you’re saying everyone’s talking about it?” he swallowed and looked away from Neil. The image of his locker bubbled in his mind. _FUCK_.

“People always be talking about relationships here. You know, I heard that Chip Esten, the hunk from the football team, got a girlfriend recently. And this kid I know, Richard, he totally hooked up with two girls at Howard’s party last Friday.” Neil lowered his voice. “And I heard this cheerleader chica, Mary? She kissed another cheerleader. That one might not be true, but hey, you never know. Lesbos are hot stuff these days, I guess. I don’t actually know what straight men think of so they can whack one out.”

Greg let out a shaky breath. “Huh. I don’t know who Jeff’s boyfriend could be.”

“So you think it’s a guy too, huh? Okay, so we’re on the same page. Jeff is a friend of Dorothy. And so are we.” Neil clapped his hands together. “We can work this out together, can’t we?”

“Sure.” Greg finger-gunned and clicked his tongue. 

Greg didn’t know if he wanted Neil to know that it was him dating Jeff. He clearly gossiped in his spare time and things spread fast according to Neil. But on the other hand, it might be worth it to see the look on his face. He also might be sympathetic and not tell anyone. Because let’s be real, Neil was obviously gay.

“Sometimes I see him getting into his car with some kid who has glasses, so it’s probably that guy.” Neil mused to himself because Greg wasn’t really listening. “Actually, last week I heard from John who heard from Tim, that Jeff was makin’ out with someone in his car before speeding off somewhere. Probably to hook up with his boyfriend. Who, by the way, had glasses.”

 _Jesus, that was me._ Greg felt himself blush. 

Neil suddenly turned to Greg and Greg jumped. “I swear I’ve seen him with hickeys.”

“Well, people are freaky.” Greg mentally face-palmed and instantly regretted being the freak he was talking about. It was him who had given Jeff the hickeys in the most obvious spots ever. Sometimes he just couldn’t control himself. Especially when it came to Jeff.

“Hickeys are trashy.” Neil looked at his nails.

“They are?” Greg knew they were a bit trashy, but they felt so _good_ it was hard to control himself. Okay, if that was his only excuse then maybe he should take it easy.

“Oh yeah. Do you really want everyone to know ya sex life? No one wants to see that shit.” Neil sassed. “Whoever is givin’ him those hickeys needs to control themselves."

Greg coughed suddenly and looked away. He felt his cheeks redden a little bit, and then he felt Neil’s eyes on him.

“Hang on.” 

Greg subtly started to pray to whoever was up there that Neil wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. His heart was pumping fast. It sort of felt like he was coming out to someone for the first time. 

“I’ve seen you with hickeys before too. Usually at the same time as Jeff.” Neil narrowed his eyes.

“Well, people are freaky.” he smiled awkwardly and held out his hands.

Neil pursed his lips and folded his arms. “So, what you’re telling me is that _you’re_ the one dating Prince Charming and you decided to sit there and be all Cinderella on my ass and not tell me it was you?”

Greg chuckled nervously. “Uh—“

“—Don’t even.” Neil held out one finger. Then he brushed his fringe away again. “Is he a good kisser?”

Greg blinked four times. “Uh—what?”

“I’m gonna assume he is.” Neil looked Greg up and down. “Since you let him give you love bites. You got any right now? Move your scarf.”

“Wha—no!” Greg held his scarf in place.

“That answers my question.” Neil grinned. Then he held up a finger. “Control yourself with those hickeys. You’re trashy.”

“So what if I’m into my boyfriend?” Greg snapped. 

“All I’m sayin’ is people judge, and have judged. They’re not discreet when you’re as pale as a piece of paper.”

They both suddenly turned to the doorway and caught Mr Anderson rolling his eyes. “Greg, get off my desk for heaven’s sake.”

“Sorry, Mr A.” Greg heaved himself off and sauntered towards his seat. His bag was on the floor right next to it. He didn’t even realise he had such good aim when throwing school bags across rooms.

“Why are you both here so early? Class doesn’t start for another five minutes.” Mr A looked at the two of them. 

“It’s cold outside.” Neil held his hands on his hips. “And I’m always in here early. I just sit in the corner.”

Mr Anderson looked at Greg. “Alright. Why are you here?”

“Can’t I say hello to my favourite teacher before school starts?” Greg quipped, smiling sweetly. 

“You can. I just thought you’d rather be outside frolicking in the field.” Mr A responded, sitting down at his desk. Greg decided not to answer him and instead propped his feet up on Jeff’s chair. Neil had supposedly gotten bored of Greg once Mr A had come in because he’d gone back to his seat in the corner and begun looking very determinedly at his nails. 

Greg didn’t know how he felt. Well, anxiety was definitely a factor. He knew he was tapping his foot on the chair but he couldn’t help it. People talked. That’s just how humans are. Plus, he’s in high school, for fuck’s sake. There is a huge possibility people will find out about Greg and Jeff, now that Neil, who is clearly a gossip, knows. The fun message on Greg’s locker won’t help either. Those people already didn’t want to touch him and all they’d seen was one word on a locker. It was like they thought he was a disease.

Greg had zoned out by the time the bell rang and people had started to fill the room. He barely noticed when Jeff walked up to him.

“Good morning Gregory,” Jeff said expectantly. Greg, admittedly, jumped a little, but he looked up at his boyfriend. 

“Oh, hello Jeffrey.” he grinned. It felt fake. He glanced over to Neil, who blew him a kiss and then motioned sucking a dick. Greg’s stomach flipped around and his back became uncomfortable all of a sudden. 

Jeff pushed Greg’s feet off his seat and sat down, crushing his bag between his chair and his back. “I’m gonna assume you were in here this morning?”

“Huh?” Greg snapped out of his trance.

“You weren’t at the table,” Jeff laughed a little. “Were you up here?”

“Oh, yeah I was.” he nodded. “It’s kind of cold outside.”

He motioned to his scarf and arched his eyebrow. Jeff held back a grin and winked.

Greg also smiled. Being in Jeff’s presence made him feel better about everything that had happened that morning. It sounded strange, but Jeff had a calming aura around him that soothed Greg. It was like they were at the lake again and it was just them, fucking around in the water and building sandcastles afterwards. 

Homeroom went by super fast for once and the two of them got up and scrambled to the door. On the way, he saw Neil in the corner of his eye and he was pointing at Greg and Jeff. Part of him wanted to ignore it, but part of him had the horrible feeling that Neil was talking about them being together. He elected to ignore it, but mostly because Jeff grabbed his arm and started dragging him towards art.

“Jeff,” Greg said calmly, lightly tugging his arm away. “Do you think people know?”

“Know what?” he said.

“About… _us_.” he lowered his voice, making sure no one was listening. 

Jeff looked at him. “I don’t see how they can. We’ve been careful, right?”

“Not as much as I would like, no.” Greg breathed out, contorting his face. “I think someone saw me leap onto you in your car after we bought our costumes.”

“Oh…” Jeff bit his lip thoughtfully.

“I was talking to this kid Neil before school, he’s in our homeroom.”

“I went to middle school with him,” Jeff clicked his fingers. “He _never_ shuts his fucking mouth.”

Greg nodded. “Oh, I know now.”

“I didn’t know he was in our homeroom.” Jeff said.

“I wish I didn’t know. He’s annoying.” 

They both stopped walking when they got to their art room. The teacher wasn’t there yet, but everyone else was. Greg caught eyes with some girl across the hall and she frowned at him, to which he scowled back. She turned and started whispering to her friends, ‘subtly’ pointing at Greg.

“What was that about?” Jeff asked him quietly, leaning against the wall. 

“She probably thinks I’m a fag,” he said sourly. “Just like everyone else.”

Jeff’s eyes went wide. “Wait, what?”

“It’s on my locker.”

Greg could almost hear the sound of Jeff’s heart breaking. His soft little ‘oh no’ almost broke Greg. He simply nodded and urged that they forget about it.

 

Greg was lounging on the couch, his feet hanging over the side when Sara burst in through the front door and threw her bag over the back of the couch and onto Greg. She didn’t apologise when he made a noise of complaint.

“I have had, the _worst_ fucking day!” She announced to the entire house.

“Oh, my days, language!” Greg heard his mom sigh from the kitchen. He shut his eyes and pressed his fingers to his temples. 

“Mom, I’m sorry, but I’m angry!” Greg heard Sara get onto one of the bar stools. 

“Why is that, hun?” 

Greg opened his eyes again and glanced over to where his dad was sitting, reading the paper. A single, tall lamp was positioned just behind his chair. He had some glasses perched on the end of his nose and was still in his church clothes. Greg hadn’t gone but his parents decided to go today, which they rarely do.

“I was hanging out with Cindy, and some gross guy came over to us both and started flirting with us,” Sara said. “When we both rejected him he called us lesbians and scurried off.”

“Lesbians?” His mom said in disbelief. “Oh, that’s horrible.”

His dad folded down the paper and looked upwards to where the kitchen was. “What’s this about lesbians?”

“I was called a lesbian today, dad.” Sara reiterated. “And I’m not.”

“Good,” Dad said gruffly. Greg watched his dad carefully. “Bein’ gay… it’s not right.”

“I agree.” Greg heard his mom say. “It’s against the lord. Men should be with women, that’s just the way it always has been.”

Greg had never wanted to die more than he did right now. The only good thing that came out of him being forced to listen to this was that he knew where his parents stood on the idea now. His heart was almost bursting out of his chest, but not in a good way. He caught eyes with his dad.

“What do you think, son?” he huffed.

“I don’t think we should judge people,” he blurted out without thinking. “Let people be what they want.”

His dad chuckled after a few moments of dead silence. “You’re funny sometimes, you know?”

“I wasn’t kidding, but okay.” Greg looked up at the ceiling. He wanted to cry. 

Sara appeared in the room and grabbed her bag off Greg’s chest. Then she sat on the other couch and folded her arms, a pissed off look plain on her face. Greg raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips. 

“What else did you get up to today Sara?” His dad straightened out the paper again and started reading it. 

Sara thought about it. “Well, I got some pretty good news.”

“What news is that?” His mom wandered in, throwing a dish towel over her shoulder. “Greg, get your feet down.”

Greg rolled his eyes and swung his legs down and around so he was sitting up straight. Immediately he slouched down and tried to get comfy.

“You know how I went and looked at that apartment a couple of weeks ago?” She started reaching around in her bag and a grin appeared on her face when she grabbed something. She pulled her hand out and in her fingers was a key. “I got the place!”

“What?!” Greg blurted out. Then he covered his mouth and sat quietly since his mom shot him a fierce glare.

“Oh, congratulations Sara!” His dad threw his paper down and started clapping loudly. “Come here.”

Greg glared as both his dad and Sara got up and hugged. His dad never hugged him. It was always a hearty clap on the back or a smile that never quite reached his eyes. He slouched even more in his seat.

“That’s wonderful, darlin’!” His mom also got up and hugged her. Then she looked at Greg as if to say, ‘come and hug her, you brat’. He scowled and refused to get up.

He didn’t want Sara to move out. It was selfish, he knew that, but Sara was the only thing in this house keeping him stable. When she moved out, he would be alone in the house with his parents. They would want to spend more time with him because Sara was gone, so he would have to to be their entertainment.

“So when are you going to move into this new apartment of yours?” Dad sat back down, this time next to Sara.

“I can move in any time I like, but I was thinking about waiting a month, so you know, I can take my things there over a month rather than a day. That’s okay, right?” she glanced around.

Mom clapped her hands once. “Of course it is! We can help you, can’t we Gregory?”

His mom whapped him on the arm and he sat up, nodding painfully. Sara looked at him strangely but ignored him. Once she started talking about the apartment again he got up and slinked off to his bedroom, since both his parents had also started to ignore him. 

On the way to his room, he stopped by the phone, about to call Jeff, but he hesitated. There wasn’t any particular reason, he just didn’t feel like talking. So he left the phone and hid away in his room for the rest of the night. At one point his mom knocked on the door and asked if he was going to have dinner, but he only turned his music louder. Of course, it wasn’t really punchy music but actually _Four Seasons Of Love_ by Donna Summer.

He was listening to the album for the fourth time, hanging upside off his bed when the door somehow burst open with the loudest bang he could possibly imagine. He fell backwards onto the floor and groaned.

“What is your problem?” Sara hissed.

“What?” Greg glared at her. “I love Donna Summer, you got a problem with that? Also, my door was _locked_.”

“I don’t give a flying shit if you love Donna Summer. I wasn’t even talking about that,” she folded her arms. “Why can’t you be happy for me? I got an apartment!”

Greg sat cross-legged on the floor, the same angry look still on his face. “So what?”

“Wow. You’re an ass.” Sara scoffed. 

“Surprise, surprise. Even on the weekend, I’m still a dick.” He finished his sentence with jazz hands and grinned mercilessly. Sara narrowed her eyebrows.

“About half an hour ago, dad said listening to Donna Summer over and over again makes you look gay,” Sara said, thankfully a little quiet, but there was still malice in her voice.

Greg tried not to let it show that that was scaring him. “So what?”

Sara clenched her jaw. “It really isn’t hard to be happy that I’m getting my life together. I’ve lived here too long, and guess what? I’m not staying for you any longer! I’m going to move into this apartment whether you like it or not.”

“You were staying for me? How quaint,” he said sweetly, with a hint of sarcasm. Okay, a lot.

“Fuck you,” she shook her head and turned around, leaving the room without closing his door. Greg flipped her off behind her back and let himself fall back so he was lying down.

Almost immediately he got up and turned off his music. The record slowed to a halt and he stared at it. Did listening to Donna Summer really make him look gay? She was the Queen of Disco, and everyone loved disco. What would make him look straight? Country music? No fucking way. If that was what his dad listened to—and he did—then he refused to listen to it. 

“Greg?”

He snapped around to the door again. “What?”

His dad raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay, son?”

“Why do you care?” Greg spat.

“Geez, okay.” His dad still came in, sitting on Greg’s bed. “Sit down.”

Greg looked at the space next to his dad, then to his desk chair, and decided the desk was better. So he grabbed the chair and sat backwards on it, leaning on the back. “What?”

“I just wanna talk. You know, how have you been. What you’ve been up to. That sort of thing.” Dad brought a beer out of nowhere up to his lips. 

Greg was a little suspicious but he nodded. “Oh… okay.”

“So how have you been?” 

“Uh, good. I’ve been good.” Greg pursed his lips. “You?”

“Never better. Though I’ll tell you one thing, that thing about the gay guy running for city council? It’s been putting a damper in my week, I’ll tell ya.” Then he laughed heartily.

Greg cocked his head to the side. “What gay guy?”

“Oh, haven’t you been listening to the radio?” Dad chuckled a little. Greg shook his head. “There’s some gay guy thinking he can get elected in San Francisco as city supervisor or something. I doubt he’ll get it. He’s gay, after all. Them folk don’t deserve anythin’.”

Greg decided to look into that later, but now he just nodded and tried to change the topic. If he lingered too long on it his father might get suspicious of him. After all, he thought listening to Donna Summer was gay. “So uh, Sara’s moving out.”

“Oh yeah,” Dad laughed. “About time, really.”

Greg cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I mean she’s twenty now. Right? I don’t actually know how old she is.” His dad said it nonchalantly as if it wasn’t a big deal that he didn’t know his daughter’s age for sure.

“She’s twenty-one,” Greg muttered.

“Yeah, heh. Anyway, I’m glad she’s movin’ out.” Dad said. “When do you think you’ll move out?”

“Dad, I _just_ turned eighteen.” Greg scowled. “And I’m still in school.”

“I was just asking, wow. What’s got your knickers in a knot?” 

Greg pursed his lips and leaned onto his arms. “Nothing.”

“I’m sure there’s something if you’re being all bitchy. Tell me what it is, son.” Dad drank more of his beer. Greg was a little suspicious of his behaviour, but it couldn’t hurt to tell him a few things, right? 

He sighed. “There’s been a few people being dicks to me, that’s all.” 

“Oh, who?”

“Drew. And Chip.” Greg admitted. 

Dad furrowed his brow. “Those guys? Come on.”

“They’re on the football team! They’re big and scary.”

“You’re letting some football players ruin your life?” he complained.

Greg huffed. “I’m not letting them ruin my life, they’re just inconveniencing me, that’s all.”

“Well, you’re just gonna hafta show them whose boss.” His dad stood up and clapped Greg on the shoulder. “‘Cause as far as they know, you’re just a sissy.”

Then he left. Greg sincerely regretted opening up to him.  



	17. A Frog Among Swans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brad has invited the gang to the final game of the high school season, though neither Jeff nor Greg understand what is happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing about American high school football. Forgive me, I'm Australian.
> 
> This chapter is quite long but I have my reasons. One, the last chapter was a bit short. And two, I worked really really hard on this. So enjoy!

Football games were deafening. There was a reason Jeff didn’t like them.

The entire crowd was already making noise and literally, nothing had even happened. A vast majority of them were still milling around inside, where food carts were being manned by some regretful college dropouts. Groups of people were parading up the stairs wearing the school colours—red and white—and were almost being run over by the opposing school’s hardcore fans. Jeff looked to his left and he could see a group of boys jumping around like monkeys. Sometimes he didn’t know how he was attracted to men.

The six of them managed to squeeze their way up the stairs and through the horde to the doors that would lead them inside. When they walked through the field came into view, and it was currently occupied by the other school’s marching band. In Jeff’s opinion, they weren’t that good.

“Come on, there’s somewhere up there where we can all sit,” Brad said, pointing near the top of the stands.

Ryan started making his way there, the rest of them following him quickly. Jeff sat down next to Ryan, and on his other side was Greg. Greg tapped him on the side and Jeff turned to him.

“Do you think we could leave at half-time? I mean, you did drive us here and we aren’t staying at Ryan’s,” he asked, giving Jeff puppy dog eyes.

Jeff glanced at the others then back at Greg. “Of course.”

“Thanks,” Greg grinned and Jeff side hugged him before staring straight ahead again. Jeff _hated_ being constantly aware of every minuscule action he did. It was honest-to-god terrifying as if the FBI were watching his every move.

Ever since those jerks had scratched that horrible word into Greg’s locker he’d been extra careful. Watching the corner of his eye, making sure he couldn’t hear another person’s footsteps alongside his own if he was by himself. Whenever the two of them were alone together it was heaven but if anyone else was around, even if it was just Bill somewhere else in the house, it felt vulnerable. 

So if they hugged properly, people were bound to say things, since apparently they already were. Kissing was always out of the question.

Ten minutes passed, and the marching band finally retreated from the field. A few people clapped, but not many. When the two groups of cheerleaders ran out onto the field the crowd broke into whoops and cheers. They started performing their routines and a few guys yelled out catcalls, which Jeff knew that the girls definitely couldn’t hear.

Greg patted Jeff’s knee. “I’m already bored.”

Jeff reached into his jacket and pulled out a book.

“How did you—“

“—behold! Boredom killer.” he handed the book to Greg, a grin on his face. It was _Carrie_ , by Stephen King. 

“Are you a wizard?” Greg questioned, looking at Jeff excitedly, his eyes twinkling. Jeff laughed.

“Maybe.”

“Thanks,” Greg said, shuffling a little closer to Jeff so their legs were flush against one another. He began reading, his attention now off Jeff. Ryan looked across Jeff at Greg and raised an eyebrow. 

“You know we’re at a football game, right? Also, we just got here.”

“And neither of us like football. What’s your point?” Jeff shrugged. 

“If you nerds didn’t want to come that would’ve been fine. I’m sure Brad would’ve forgiven you.” Ryan said. “Besides, you drove separately. It’s your fault that you’re here.”

“I doubt he would’ve forgiven us. Ditching you guys to make out? Sure. That’ll go down smooth.”

Ryan laughed. “Dude, Brad is a forgiving guy. And it’s only a football game.”

“Yeah, and I don’t even know why we’re here anyway. Brad isn’t on the team anymore.” Jeff said. Brad heard him and leaned towards him.

“My dad thinks I’m playing tonight. He isn’t here, of course.” Brad told him.

“So you still haven’t told him you were kicked?”

“Nope. I figured I’d wait until the season was over and find a reason that supports my thirst for knowledge over my need for speed.” Brad quipped. 

Ryan laughed. “Good luck with that.”

“You aren’t helping by being cynical,” Brad said. 

“It’s his natural state, I’ve just accepted it at this point,” Colin added. He smiled at Ryan, but it felt different to Jeff. Maybe he was just seeing things. He looked at Greg again. He was happily reading, totally unaware of the outside world right now. Jeff loved seeing Greg like that, it was innocent and authentic. 

That night, Greg would be sleeping over at Jeff’s. Ryan had decided to host yet another slumber party, much like Halloween, but since neither Jeff nor Greg felt like getting drunk and going to places they shouldn’t have in the bathroom, they decided it would be best not to attend. They were _definitely_ in there longer than seven minutes and Jeff certainly went to heaven at one point.

The principal walked out onto the field to sudden applause and cheers from the football players, who were most definitely mocking him. He started off by thanking everyone for such a wonderful football season, and then a bunch of stuff that Jeff didn’t care about. They all had to stand and hold their hands over their hearts when some girl—who looked like Jane Fonda—sang the national anthem. Greg still didn’t take much attention away from the book.

The game finally started shortly after that. The crowd erupted whenever their school's team did something. Anything. It didn’t make a lot of sense to Jeff. At this point, he was just watching people run with a ball in their hands. He’d never really tried to get into sports since it just wasn’t his thing. He was more of a theatre kid. However, his dad did teach him how to throw a mean curveball when he was little.

Next to him, Greg gasped lightly. Jeff looked at him curiously.

“Sorry, just… something unexpected…” he held the book up without looking at Jeff. 

Jeff side-hugged him again, squeezing his shoulder. This time Greg smiled up at Jeff, his eyes glistening. Jeff knew exactly what they were saying.

“Hey, love-birds.”

Ryan grabbed Jeff’s attention by hitting him on the shoulder. Both of them snapped their heads to him and glared.

“Do you wanna go buy some food? I got some money for yous. If you go now you won’t have to deal with the half-time crowd.” Ryan wasn’t even phased by their glares. He handed Jeff some money. “Just get us whatever. It’s all deep-fried American goodness anyway.”

“Yuck.” Greg grinned and gave Ryan the book. “Look after this then. Come on then, Jeff, let’s scoot.”

The two of them got up and weaved their way out of their row and down the stairs. They walked back through the doors and into the outer ring where he’d seen all the food carts before. It was a surprisingly big stadium for a high school football game, and Jeff didn’t know how they’d managed to hire it. 

“How you liking _Carrie_ so far?” Jeff asked. It was good that he could hear himself think now. There were a few people milling around, but it was considerably less than where they were.

“It’s intriguing,” Greg responded after a bit. “His description of Carrie was a bit… eugh, but it painted a clear picture. I’ve definitely seen some girls around here that remind me of her.”

Jeff laughed. “Now now, don’t be feisty.”

“Hey, all I’m saying ‘a frog among swans’ is poetic.” Greg bounced in his step. 

“I’m glad you’re liking it so far.” Jeff watched Greg bounce, then he looked around, seeing nothing. They’d been walking for a bit and people were starting to disappear back into the game. “Hey, do you even know where we’re going?”

“No.”

“That’s comforting,” Jeff said. 

“Ry told us to get food. He didn’t say quickly.” Greg pointed out, a mischievous grin on his face. “Loophole.”

“That’s true. It also gives us a break from watching those wet towels on the field.” Jeff spat out the last words, physically cringing when he said it. Greg looked at him amusedly.

“Wet towels?”

Jeff looked at him. “They’re disgusting. Especially if you don’t hang them up to dry.”

Greg cringed. “Ew, okay. I get you now. They also start to smell.”

“Exactly! If you exercise too much you stink and you sweat, therefore you become a wet towel.” Jeff exaggerated. 

“No one wants to be a wet towel,” Greg frowned. “Be a dry towel. A fresh one. Straight from the dryer.”

Jeff relished the thought of a fresh towel, closing his eyes. He stopped walking, opening his eyes again. Greg also stopped, a few feet away. After a quick glance around, Greg stepped towards Jeff so they were right against one another and he gave him a quick kiss. It was like static, in Jeff’s brain. 

“Hey, my eyes are up here.” Greg clicked his fingers in Jeff’s face. Jeff blinked, realising he was staring at Greg’s chest. He didn’t have boobs, obviously, but Jeff had spaced out for a second.

“Sorry,” he said. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“Well, it’s kind of thing that people do when they’re dating.” Greg poked Jeff’s chest a few times.

Jeff rolled his eyes, unable to stop a slight grin. “I know, it’s just, we’re in public.”

“I see no one around.”

“Fair, but like, anyone could walk around the corner at any moment.” 

“Jeff, it’s okay.” Greg grabbed his hand reassuringly. “They’re all focused on the game right now, and we’ve walked far enough to be secluded. I wouldn’t have kissed you if I didn’t think we were safe.”

Jeff looked at their hands together and smiled. He rubbed his thumb over the back of Greg’s hand. “I guess that’s true.”

He felt a hand on his cheek, and he looked up.

“I love you,” Greg said. 

“And I love you,” Jeff responded, leaning down to kiss him properly this time. Greg let go of his hand and placed it on his other cheek, holding him close. 

Despite being so hidden, the thought of being caught was still in the back of Jeff’s mind. He tried not to let it bother him because after all, he was kissing the cutest boy ever, and that was enough to ease his heart. Well, also speed it up. Eh, whatever. 

He pulled away and hugged Greg tightly around the waist, resting his chin on Greg’s shoulder. Greg wrapped his arms around Jeff’s neck. Jeff glanced down and saw that Greg was slightly standing on the tips of his toes.

“You’re short,” he whispered.

“No, you’re just annoyingly tall,” Greg responded. 

Jeff suddenly heard footsteps from around the corner and he looked up. There was no time to break apart, the person was already staring at them. She had a voluminous amount of hair and was wearing a cheerleading outfit. Greg swivelled around in Jeff’s arms so he could see the girl.

“Hi, uh, do you know where the bathrooms are? I literally can’t find them anywhere,” she asked, chewing gum at the same time.

Jeff pointed his thumb behind him. “I think they’re somewhere that way, but I’m not sure.”

“Thanks, this place is fucking huge.” she laughed and kept going. Greg looked at Jeff, his eyebrows almost touching his hairline.

“What the fuck just happened?”

Then she came back, pointing at the two of them. “Do I know you two?”

“No?” Jeff was still holding Greg around the waist, too shocked to let go. 

“Strange. I swear I’ve seen you two before.” she folded her arms. Then she pointed at Jeff. “I’ve _definitely_ seen you before.”

“That’s funny, it’s almost as if we go to the same school,” Greg said, pointing to her cheerleading outfit.

She laughed a little. “Okay, I’ll give you that one.”

Jeff was wracking his brains, trying to think of where this girl could’ve seen him before. Come to think of it, she did look a little familiar. She was quite tall for a cheerleader and she had a slightly darker skin tone. Her ears were double-pierced, which Jeff thought was really cool. She was squinting at him, probably trying to do the same thing. Then, her eyes widened.

“Oh my god! You were at that festival. The one with the gay people, remember?” she clicked her fingers. It flooded back to Jeff and his jaw dropped. _That_ festival. He had only just come to terms with himself and decided to head out. There weren’t many people at that ‘festival’ but there were enough to make Jeff feel safe. This girl he had talked to for literally only five minutes, but she was memorable. Mostly.

“Oh god, you’re right.” he ran a hand through his hair. “Was it… Mary?”

“Yes! And you’re Jeff, right?”

“Okay, can someone explain what the fuck is going on here?” Greg interrupted. His head kept switching between the two of them in confusion. 

Jeff looked down at Greg. “Uh, about a year or two ago I went to this small ‘festival’ thing that was full of queer people. Mary went too, obviously.”

“I didn’t know we were at the same school!” Mary walked a little closer. “I haven’t seen you in so long, dude!”

She grabbed ahold of him and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back because wow, it _had_ been a while. When he let her go he grabbed Greg’s hand again, because he was staring at Jeff in mild shock.

“Mary, this is Greg, my boyfriend. Greg, Mary.” he introduced the two of them and they shook hands.

“Hello!” she grinned. Greg was in an almost vegetative state at this point, so Jeff poked his rib. He jolted awake and he smiled back.

“Uh, hello.” 

“Boyfriend, huh? How long have you two been together?” She asked.

Greg counted it on his fingers. “Almost two months.”

“Aw, so you’re still fresh.” she smiled and crossed her arms. Jeff was a bit concerned by that comment, but it didn’t really matter because it was sort of true. Mary then looked as if she remembered something and jumped once. “Okay, I do actually need to go to the bathroom, but it was great to see you again. We should totes hang out soon, all three of us.”

“Of course!” Jeff waved, and she bounced off, her hair bouncing like a different entity.

Greg looked at Jeff with confusion ridden on his face, with a bit of concern.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Jeff laced their fingers together. “She’s cool.”

“I can see that. She had a double piercing.” Greg pointed to his own ear, which wasn’t pierced. 

“I haven’t seen her in so long. Literally, the only time we met was that festival, and we didn’t even talk for that long.” Jeff said, still feeling excited from seeing Mary. He ran his hand through his hair again, only for it to flop in front of his eyes. He should probably get a haircut soon.

It was quiet for a few seconds until Greg looked at his watch. “Oh dear. It’s almost half-time. We’ve been gone for ages.”

“Do you wanna leave?” Jeff suggested. “I have my keys.”

“Oh yeah. Let’s go home.”

Jeff grinned at him and they started walking, hand in hand. 

 

If Jeff had to describe his and Greg’s relationship he’d probably say it was like a slightly out of tune guitar. He didn’t really know what that meant but it somehow made sense. Slightly off normal. He didn’t know if they were normal because Jeff didn’t know what normal was. Was normal letting your boyfriend stay over two nights in a row? If so, then they were at least normal in that regard.

Jeff looked lazily down at Greg, who was asleep on top of him. They’d slept in the same bed the past two nights and Jeff couldn’t think of anything better. Greg was shorter than him and even though it didn’t mean he _had_ to be the little spoon, it just turned out that way. If they weren’t spooning, then Greg was on top of him. Each night before they’d fallen asleep they had the most _amazing_ make-out sessions. It was like a romantic movie, with music playing in the background. Except it was just Jeff’s record player and _The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars_ blaring in the background. It was hot.

There was a small knock at his door and it opened quietly without waiting for a response. Jeff glared at the intruder, who just so happened to be his dad.

“Jeff, I’m gonna go to the store. Do you or Greg need anything?” he asked quietly, kind of squinting because the sun was coming through Jeff’s window and into his eyes.

“Whatever is needed to make a cake,” Jeff said, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “Other than that, privacy.”

His dad nodded a little. “I’ve been giving you peace and quiet, haven’t I?”

“Not right now you’re not,” Jeff complained, making sure his voice wasn’t too loud. After all, Greg was still knocked out. Greg stirred a bit, but he only snuggled his head more into Jeff’s shoulder.

“Okay, okay, I’ll leave you two alone,” Dad said, closing the door. Jeff heard him repeat the ingredients of a cake to himself as he wandered back down the hallway. Jeff closed his eyes again, tangling his fingers in Greg’s hair. He breathed a deep breath and he felt Greg rise a little because of it.

Lying here with Greg in his arms was exactly where Jeff felt the safest. It was always on his mind that people were talking behind their backs, saying things that would ultimately make their lives a living hell. People didn’t move out of the way when he walked down the halls anymore, shoving into him like he was a door in a dramatic movie. There were things he wasn’t allowed to say, do, or wear at school just because of a certain set of stereotypes put in place by society. 

But here at home, he could be whatever he wanted to be. Here, in the comforts of his room, he could sing whatever song he wanted because it didn’t fucking matter. He could sleep knowing he wouldn’t wake up to a hateful family and he could sit and draw at his desk knowing that the one he loved was just a phone call away. But what made everything even more worth it was when Greg stayed over because Jeff knew that Greg felt all right in Jeff’s arms.

The situation at Greg’s home was vastly different from Jeff’s. They weren’t even similar in the slightest. Greg wasn’t lucky enough to have a comfortable night sleep and wake up to his family openly accepting him for loving a boy. His family was cruel. Jeff could tell from the way Greg kept quiet about them. Whenever Greg wasn’t at his own home he was the happiest. At least, it seemed that way to Jeff. He did come over an awful lot.

He must’ve fallen back asleep again because he woke up again and Greg was suddenly gone. Well, from on top of him at least. After a quick glance around the room, he saw Greg raiding his closet.

“What are you doin’?” his voice was froggy. He yawned again. Greg looked at him innocently.

“Nothin’. Just finding what to wear. I have no more clothes with me.” Greg explained.

Jeff sat up, cracking his back. “I’m gonna run out of clothes one day.”

“You have heaps of clothes.” Greg gestured to Jeff’s closet, which was in fact stacked with clothes. There were at least fifteen hangers just for pants. Jeff fell backwards onto his pillow and covered his eyes. After a few minutes, he felt Greg crawling back onto the bed and getting on him. Jeff opened his eyes and propped his hands behind his head, posing because Greg had a camera in his hands. 

“I didn’t know you had that with you,” Jeff said after Greg took a picture of him. “And you waited until today.”

“I forgot I had it with me,” Greg admitted, snatching the polaroid out of the camera as it churned out. “But Sara decided to just give it to me, since I’ve used it more in the past three weeks than she has ever.”

“That’s nice of her.” Jeff grabbed Greg’s thighs. He was not only wearing Jeff’s shirt, but he was also wearing Jeff’s sweatpants. He waved the picture around.

“I don’t know why she was being so nice to me. I was being a dick to her, and I haven’t said sorry yet.” 

Jeff furrowed his brow. “Why were you being a dick?”

“Well,” Greg’s voice went up an octave and he avoided Jeff’s eyes. “She’s moving out in a few weeks and I just wasn’t the happiest person in the world about it.”

“Greg, she’s not going to stay any longer. She’s going to have her own life now.” Jeff said, reaching up and brushing Greg’s cheek with the side of his hand, so he would look at Jeff. 

“I know that.” Greg leaned into Jeff’s hand. He started fiddling with the picture between his fingers. “I guess, I feel bad about snapping at her, but like, it’s whatever.” 

“Isn’t it exactly what you’ve been dreaming of for years? To have a life of your own away from family?” Jeff asked sincerely. Greg looked in Jeff’s eyes.

“It is. And that’s why I feel bad.”

Jeff took a deep breath. “I think you should apologise when you next see her.”

“But it’s been a week.” Greg looked away from Jeff. “She doesn’t care anymore.”

“It’ll still mean something, won’t it?” Jeff said. Then he paused. “Why do you think she won’t care?”

Greg sighed, still not looking at Jeff. “Because she thinks she’s all open-minded and accepting but in reality, she’s just like everyone else. She doesn’t care what I think.”

“Woah, where’s this coming from?” Jeff looked at him sadly.

“I wasn’t really having the best week last week,” Greg admitted after a moment. “Sara was just the cherry on top.”

Jeff finally sat up. He took the picture from Greg’s fingers and placed it gently on the bedside table. He shifted back so he was against the wall and he extended his arms, motioning for Greg to come towards him. Greg crawled forwards and sat against him.

“What happened to make it a shitty week?” Jeff asked softly. 

Greg leaned against Jeff’s chest, a gentle sigh escaping his lips. “I just… it's the kids at school. They whisper mean things behind my back, and they sneer at me and call me names sometimes. They scratch derogatory things into my locker. Some have even started to push me.”

Jeff starting stroking Greg’s hair. He knew what that was like.

“And it’s not like my home is a place where I can escape from that, you know?” his voice was quiet, like a soft blues song, but sadder. “My dad is… horrifically homophobic. Mom is just ignorant. They’re not really the nicest people.”

“I gathered that,” Jeff said.

“The locker thing was just fucking wonderful. It made me feel shitty and unloved and like an outsider.” Greg’s voice broke. “And then on Sunday Sara comes home saying she’s had the worst day of her life and it’s because some douche who she turned down called her a lesbian.”

“She called _that_ the worst day of her life?” Jeff said in shock. “Wow, she hasn’t had a lot of trouble.”

“Yeah well, when she said it, my family started to make homophobic comments.” Greg cracked his knuckles. “It took all my energy not to start crying on the spot and, and I knew that I would never, ever be able to tell them that I love _you_.”

Jeff kissed the top of his head. “I wish I could make it all go away. You deserve love. And not just from me.”

“I guess… I also got mad that Sara’s moving out because it means that I won’t have a safety net anymore.” Greg said thoughtfully. Jeff furrowed his brow.

“Elaborate? Please?”

“Well, I’ll be the only child at home now.” Greg angled his head up so he could kind of see Jeff. “They’ll start coming to me for things, asking me to hang out with them, asking about my life. Which means there’s more chance they’ll find out about you and me.”

Jeff was quiet. He didn’t know how to answer that because he couldn’t relate. So he didn’t, and let Greg continue.

“Anyway,” he said. “I was a dick to her. I shouldn’t have been so mean.”

“Hey, you’ve been under a lot of stress. It isn’t easy to be picked on day after day just for being you, and to have it at home as well doesn’t help.” Jeff rubbed his shoulder. “You should’ve come over. I’m always here for you.”

Greg sat up, trying to subtly wipe away a tear that Jeff didn’t even know was there. “I wish I did, honestly.”

“Are you okay now?” Jeff asked. His own heart was breaking. Seeing Greg cry was painful, but he knew it meant that Greg trusted him and felt safe enough to be vulnerable.

“I am,” Greg said honestly. “This week was better than the last. Plus, I haven’t been home since Friday morning.”

Jeff let out a little laugh. “Yeah, true. You’ll have to go home at some point though.”

“Unfortunately,” Greg rolled his eyes. “Back to my shit family.”

“They don’t matter. What matters is that we’re so cute together. Especially you. If your family can’t see that you’re happy, then they don’t deserve to be graced by your existence.” Jeff grabbed Greg’s hands and rubbed circles with his thumbs. Greg laughed quietly.

“I wish I could just live here. In your room. Like a hermit or something.” he leaned forward and kissed Jeff’s nose. Greg looked at the bedside table and grabbed the picture, grinning at it. “Ooh, the picture’s there! Okay, you’re cute. Look.”

Jeff smiled automatically and Greg showed him the picture. Jeff grabbed it from his hands and examined it. Okay, Greg was right. He looked cute in the photo. He gave it back to Greg, who looked at it lovingly. Greg’s eyes moved from the picture to Jeff, his expression not changing even a little bit.

They were about to kiss when the door opened.

“Oh my god!” Jeff snapped at Bill, who was the culprit. He was always ruining the moment. “What the fuck do you want?”

“Nothing, I just wanted to see what you two were doing.” Bill pointed at his own eyes, then at Jeff and Greg. “I’m watching you.”

“Well stop it, you fucking creep.” Greg scoffed. Bill scowled at Greg, which made Jeff glare at Bill.

“No sex. Dad made that _really_ clear.” Bill said, squinting. “So I’m just making sure.”

“Okay! Get out!” Jeff reached behind him and grabbed his pillow, launching it at the door and narrowly missing Bill. He dashed off without closing Jeff’s door.

Jeff rolled his eyes so far back he swore he saw his brain. Greg laughed quietly and hugged Jeff, angling his chin up and propping it on top of Jeff’s head. “It’s okay.”

Jeff sighed. “Why the fuck would we have sex at… ten am? With _him_ in the house?”

“I have no clue.” Greg kissed Jeff’s forehead. “He’s delusional.”

“Delusional doesn’t even begin to describe it.” Jeff looked up at his boyfriend. His hair was fluffier than usual and he was glowing, and he seemed happier than normal, despite the conversation they had about two minutes ago. Jeff leaned in and kissed him, wrapping his arms around Greg’s body. Greg tangled his hands in Jeff’s already messy hair and smiled into the kiss.

Greg stopped kissing him and hugged him tightly, a wide grin on his face. “I love you.”

“You’re so cute,” Jeff cooed. “I love you too.”

Greg moved back in front of Jeff and cupped his cheeks. “You’re so sweet. I love spending time with you. I can’t get enough of you, you absolute angel.”

Jeff blushed severely and he was stuck blinking. 

“I seriously wish I could spend every second of every day here,” Greg pouted. “You’re _so_ , so comforting.”

“Babe! I’m gonna overheat if you keep this up.” Jeff whispered, his face probably about to set aflame. He looked down so he could avoid Greg’s eyes. Greg kissed him on the forehead again and held his chin up so Jeff was looking at him. 

“How did you get this cute? Is it magic? Did you sign a deal with the devil?” Greg ran his hands through Jeff’s hair and down his back.

“Contracts signed by minors aren’t legally binding.” Jeff blurted out. Why did he know that?

Greg raised an eyebrow. “Well, good thing you’re eighteen then.”

“Oh, right.” Jeff laughed at himself. “Forgot about that.”

Greg was quiet for a moment, then his face lit up. “Can we go to the park?”

“Are you a dog?” Jeff smirked. 

“I have been called a bitch in my lifetime.” Greg countered.

Jeff cupped his face. “Well, you’re my bitch.”

“Oh, I’m smitten.” Greg deadpanned with a smile on his face still. Jeff kissed him and Greg scooted back so Jeff could get up. He looked down at himself and decided that he should probably get dressed if they were going to the park. Greg stayed on Jeff’s bed, leaning against the wall.

“I asked dad if he could buy cake ingredients, by the way,” Jeff told him as he pulled his shirt off.

“Ooh, yay!” Greg clapped his hands. “When we get back from the park let’s do that.”

Jeff grabbed a shirt and put it on, trying to decide what pants to wear as he buttoned it up. “I hope he bought chocolate cake ingredients. I’m not trying to have any of this vanilla business.”

“Yeah, no thanks. Chocolate is superior.”

“See? This is why I’m dating you.” Jeff teased, letting his pants fall and grabbing some jeans from his cupboard.

“No, you’re dating me because I’m ‘your bitch’, as you say,” Greg said.

“Well, that too.” 

He tucked his shirt in once he had his jeans on and grabbed a belt, looping it through the holes and doing it up. He looked at himself in the mirror, then unbuttoned the top few buttons so his chest was showing a bit. He couldn’t remember if he’d stolen this shirt from Greg or not.

“That’s slutty of you,” Greg said. 

Jeff looked at him and winked. “It’s for you.”

“You’re so romantic. I’m your bitch and, well, you’re my slut.” Greg teased, folding his arms. He crossed one leg over the other and grinned at Jeff.

“That’s just how romance works, baby.” Jeff finger-gunned at him and grabbed some socks. 

Greg laughed. “True that.”

Jeff smiled and finally tugged his shoes onto his feet. Greg did the same, and they climbed out of Jeff’s window because it was so much quicker than going all the way around to the front door. They started walking to the park, which was approximately five minutes away from Jeff’s house. The last time he went was when he was a child, and he specifically remembers Bill pushing him off the swing one time. His mom ripped into Bill for that.

Greg grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together, giving Jeff a cute smile. He glowed even more in the sunlight and it made him _oh so attractive_. Jeff lifted their hands up and twirled him around. He then blew Jeff a kiss.

“So why did you want to go to the park?” Jeff asked. 

Greg shrugged. “I wanted to get outside. It’s a nice day.”

“It is a nice day. Better than what we’ve been having recently.” Jeff looked around. The sky was bright blue, a few clouds smattered here and there. There was a very, very light breeze that was barely noticeable, kind of like the soft breaths of someone sleeping.

“I don’t like winter very much. My glasses always fog up.” Greg pouted, taking his glasses off and inspecting them. He let go of Jeff’s hand and wiped his lenses clean with his shirt before putting them back on. Jeff grabbed his hand again, because why wouldn’t he?

“Have you always had glasses?”

Greg stared at him. “How long have you been dating me?”

“No,” Jeff snorted. “I mean, did you have them when you were a child?”

“I kept scooting closer and closer to the front of the classroom until I was practically on the teacher, squinting, and she suggested to my parents I get my eyes checked,” Greg explained. “So yes, I did get them when I was a child. You’re lucky, you don’t have to pay to see.”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Jeff grinned. Greg started swinging their arms a little.

“I also wanted to get out because we’ve pretty much been in your room since Friday night. And it’s now Sunday morning.” Greg added. “I was actually starting to become a hermit.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I know you don’t mind,” Greg looked in his eyes. “But my parents are probably wondering where I am.”

“Did you tell them you were even coming over on Friday?”

“I said I was going to the game with my friends,” Greg said.

They turned down a small dirt path. Ahead of them was the park, and from the looks of it, there were a couple of children hanging out with a mother. 

“So that’s a no?” Jeff smirked. Greg nodded. 

“Whatever. I’m eighteen, I do as I please.” he threw his free arm up in the air as they got closer to the park. Jeff shook his head, smiling.

They both sat down on a nearby bench, not too far from the equipment but not too close either. Across from them was a picnic table, where the assumed mother of the playing children was sitting. Atop the picnic table was a picnic basket. Greg and Jeff were still holding hands. For some reason, it didn’t feel like they had to hide at this moment. 

Jeff leaned his head onto Greg’s. “What do you think is in that basket?”

“A pie,” Greg said definitively.

“I think she’s made croissants,” Jeff said, tapping his fingers on Greg’s hand.

“Really? They’re pretty hard to make.” 

“She looks like she knows what she’s doing.” Jeff brought his legs up onto the seat and angled himself so he was leaning on Greg. He tried to look closer at the woman. “Is she reading?”

“I think she is.” Greg agreed. “But I also think she’s noticed us staring at her. Because now she’s pointing at us. And… motioning for us to come over to her.”

Jeff felt his heart rate rise a little. “Should we?”

“Well, if she’s got pie I’m going.” Greg shrugged and made to get up. Jeff also shrugged, getting up as well. They made their way over and stood at the table quietly. She was wearing a straw hat and large oval earrings. In front of her was a book, opened at least two thirds, and a bottle of orange cordial. 

She looked between them. “Were you two starin’ at me?”

“We were just wondering what’s in the basket.” Greg pointed at the basket, then shoved his hands back in his pockets.

“And I was wondering what you’re reading,” Jeff admitted a bit sheepishly.

“So you were starin’. Well, I’ve got a pie in here, and I’m readin’ _Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret_.” she smiled and showed Jeff the cover. Her smile was genuine, and it felt comforting. “You’re welcome to join me here boys. Them little ‘uns are too busy playin’.”

Greg looked at Jeff. “Well, o-of course. That’d be lovely.”

They both sat down across from her, barely leaving any space between them. Jeff leaned onto the table. It was a little weird sitting down with a stranger, but she felt trustworthy. She radiated with a motherly vibe. Jeff missed that.

“Can I ask you boys somethin’?” she closed her book carefully. Jeff nodded. “Are you together?”

“Uh,” Greg cocked his head to the side. “Depends.”

She looked at Greg curiously. “Don’t play. I know you two are together. You been lookin’ at each other with doe eyes and came here holdin’ hands. Young love is precious, no matter who it’s between. God loves everyone. Now, how would you like some pie?”

Greg nodded eagerly. “Yes please.”

“That would be nice,” Jeff laughed at Greg. “Thanks.”

“Oh don’ worry about it. I bake pies for my church every Sunday. Now, don’t tell God, but we didn’t go today.” she whispered the last part, and opened the basket so she could pull the pie out. Then she looked up at the equipment. “Kids! Come and get some pie!”

Jeff turned around and watched the two little children run towards the table. The little girl sat next to Jeff, the boy next to the lady. He waved at Greg and Greg waved back, a smile appearing on his face.

“Boys, this is Michael and Lily.” she introduced the children to them. “Michael, Lily, this is….?”

“Oh, I’m Jeff.” 

“And I’m Greg.” 

They shared a look and smiled. 

“I’m Susanna, but you can call me Susan if you’d like,” she reached into the basket and grabbed some plates, setting one down in front of everyone. Michael also reached into the basket and he grabbed out some forks, giving one to everyone.

“I like your shirt,” Lily said to Jeff. Her voice was a little quiet, and she looked at him cautiously, but curiously.

Jeff looked down at himself. His shirt was a loose-fitting, short-sleeved button-down with a black and white zig-zag pattern, and it was tucked into his pants. “Oh, thank you.”

Lily smiled and she stood up on the seat. She stood only a few inches above Jeff’s head. “Mommy has the same one.”

Greg laughed and covered his mouth, trying to stifle the laugh. Susan also laughed a little, grabbing out a knife so she could cut the pie.

“Well, I did find it in the women’s section.” Jeff turned slowly to Greg, a look in his eyes that hopefully said ‘you’re dead to me’. Greg held up his hands in defence.

“It looks great on you,” he defended.

“I know it does.” Jeff huffed. “I look great in all of your clothes.”

Greg’s eyes widened. Michael started giggling, as did Lily. Susan started serving the pie.

“Now now, children,” she said sternly. “It’s just a shirt. It does look wonderful on you.”

“Thanks,” Jeff said. Greg just raised his eyebrow knowingly and started to eat his pie. After the first bite, he looked as if he just had an orgasm. Although, only Jeff would know that. He blushed a bit because he thought of that, covering it up with a cough.

“Oh my goodness, this pie is amazing!” Greg said, his mouth full of pie still. “Thank you, Susan!”

“Oh, it’s no harm, honey. I make pies all the time, as I said.” she waved it off. 

Jeff ate some of his pie and immediately understood why Greg was gushing over it. It was like heaven in his mouth all of a sudden, or as if _American Pie_ came on the radio. “Holy mackerel…”

“Mommy’s pies are the best pies!” Lily bounced up and down, holding the fork in her hand tightly.

“Yeah!” Michael agreed, digging in eagerly. Susan just smiled at him and moved the rest of the pie off to the side while they all started to eat.

Jeff didn’t think he would be so happy eating pie with people he’d just met. He’d obviously never done this before. How often was it that a strange woman offered apple pie to a couple of gay teenagers? Instantly his day was improved, and he didn’t know that was even possible. When they got home they made their cake. Normally after spending a few hours playing at a park with a couple of eight-year-olds Jeff would be tired out, but he was in a baking mood.

Jeff was smiling just thinking about it. 

“What are you so smiley about?” Greg mused with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Jeff looked at Greg, who was curled up in the passenger seat. “Just thinkin’ about today.”

“That cake we made was so delicious.” Greg groaned. “I’m surprised I didn’t eat all of it in one go.”

“Same,” Jeff said. “You still ate like, three pieces.”

“Obviously.” 

They shared a smile.

“I love you so much.” Jeff let one hand go from the steering wheel to Greg’s hand, holding it in his own. “Thanks for not leaving until I decided to force you to leave.”

Greg laughed. “You know I’d never go home.”

Jeff turned into Greg’s street. “I hope your parents are too mad.”

“If they are, they’re hypocrites. Sara does this all the time.” Greg raised his eyebrows. 

“Well, you know I’m always one phone call away.” He slowed the car down in front of Greg’s house. It was getting dark now, and the sunset was casting beautiful colours onto the front lawn.

“I know.”

Greg rested his hand on Jeff’s thigh, the look in his eyes saying it all. He whispered a small ‘bye’ and climbed out of the car, bag in tow. Jeff watched him walk up to the door with the window rolled down, he always did. Greg glanced back once, waving. Jeff waved back, a sad smile on his face. It might be a bit selfish, but Jeff wanted to spend as much time as possible with Greg. He didn’t like saying goodbye to him, even if he was going to see him the next day. He watched as the door opened. He heard yelling, and saw pointing towards him. Then Greg’s dad was at the door, staring Jeff down. 

Now was probably the time to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping for more smut and less reality, but there you are - Greg Proops, 'Bayonets' (23:45)


	18. The Definition Of Pumpkins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the two love-birds being inseparable for the entire weekend Jeff has fallen prey to sickness. After toughing it out at school alone, Greg strives to take care of a sickly Jeff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a warning, there is some abusive behaviour near the end of this chapter that might be sensitive to some people, so please take care!

“We shouldn’t have spent so much time together.” Jeff croaked into the phone.

Greg laughed to himself. “It’s not my fault you got sick.”

“I’m still going to blame you,” Jeff complained. “You were the only one who was close to me for three days straight. And making out with me. And we showered—”

“—but, I’m not sick. Explain that, genius.” Greg looked at his nails, spinning around in his chair. 

“Okay, I can’t, but I’m going to blame you whether you like it or not.”

Greg shrugged. “Whatever. If I get sick I’ll know why.”

He heard Jeff cough in the background. It didn’t sound healthy at all. Greg made a face.

“I’ve gotta go to school now, darling,” Greg said quietly. “So I’ll see you after.”

He could almost feel Jeff smiling through the receiver. “You’re coming over?”

“Mmhmm. I have to take care of you. I also need a hug, so I’m going to get one.” Greg said. “I may be grounded, but that won’t stop me from seeing you. Okay. Bye.”

“Bye-bye.” Jeff hung up.

Greg rolled his eyes and dropped the phone back onto the holder. He didn’t want to go to school but he had no choice. He was grounded and his father made it very clear that he had to go to school, even if he was about to die. It all had something to do with Greg literally disappearing for the entire weekend without even calling his parents. He was still going to go to Jeff’s after school anyway.

Greg was pretty much dressed already since he slept in his clothes from yesterday. He changed his underwear though because of hygiene. After that, he grabbed his bag and wallet and walked out to the dining room. His dad was at the table reading the paper, his mom across from him eating some breakfast. Sara was nowhere to be seen.

“Hello?” Greg said. Both his parents looked up.

“Oh, hello.” his dad said gruffly, returning back to his newspaper.

“Good mornin’ Gregory.” Mom smiled. “There’s fruit in the fridge if you’d like to take it.”

“Thanks, mom.” Greg smiled back. It was fake. 

“Greg, you need to come home straight after school, understand?” Dad said sternly, not looking up.

“Yes, dad.” Greg droned. “I’ll be here.”

Greg dropped his bag and walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. It was pretty empty, except for the fruit his mom mentioned. After a few seconds of intense internal debating, he grabbed some fruit. It was cold in his hand and he cringed slightly at the thought of biting into a cold apple in this weather. Since there wasn’t anything else for him to grab, he didn’t. Instead, he set about walking to school.

He still hadn’t spoken to Sara about their whole ‘argument’. Jeff said he should apologise. And he agreed, but he figured it could wait a little bit. After all, yesterday wasn’t the best time to apologise after fighting with his dad about where he’d been. He got pretty damn close to coming out of the closet just so his dad would shut up, but he held himself back because thankfully he’d already thought of the consequences that would bring. 

“Need a ride?” 

Greg looked to his left. He’d barely been paying attention at all on his trek, and he didn’t realise how far he’d walked in the cold. If he breathed out he could see his breath. It was kind of entertaining in a way. Ryan gestured to the passenger seat with a grin.

“Alright.” Greg ‘reluctantly’ agreed. In reality, he was extremely grateful, because he definitely didn’t wear enough clothing.

“Dude, you’re shivering,” Ryan said. He pushed the door open and Greg clambered inside, throwing his bag into the backseat. His vision went completely foggy and he looked around, confused until he realised it was just his glasses fogging up from climbing into a warm car. He wiped them clean and felt his cheeks. Ice cold. Ryan sped off—under the speed limit, of course—and he glanced over at Greg.

“How was your weekend?”

Greg sighed. “Magical.”

“And yet you sound depressed,” Ryan commented. “What’s up?”

“I’d much rather tell you about how magical my weekend was.” Greg deflected. He started absentmindedly played with his scarf. 

“Okay, Alice in Wonderland,” Ryan said. “Tell me.”

“I didn’t go home all weekend, Ry. I stayed at Jeff’s and we slept together and we baked a cake.” Greg sighed again, this time with a hint of happiness. “I was so happy.”

“I can imagine,” he replied. “Being away from your family is really refreshing.”

“And Jeff makes me so much happier than my parents ever could.”

They turned down the street that the school belonged to. “Well, I don’t think your parents would suck your dick.”

“Ryan!” Greg almost threw up. “You’re sick.”

“Hey, I’m just telling the truth!” Ryan laughed. “Did you do anything else?”

Greg shook his head. “Nah. Tell me about your weekend. What else happened after we ditched you?”

Ryan laughed again. “Well, if you must know, we had drinks at my house. Although I must admit, it wasn’t as much fun without you there.”

“Aw shucks.”

The tires screeched a little as Ryan pulled into a parking space. Greg reached back and grabbed their bags before climbing back out into the cold.

“Aside from being hungover on Saturday, I didn’t do much.”

“Now _that_ I can’t believe.” Greg grinned at him knowingly. “You must’ve done something fun.”

Ryan folded his arms. “I don’t think so.”

Greg forced his hand through so their arms were linked. “Pretty please?”

“No!” Ryan giggled and jumped away from him, walking off and glancing back every few steps. Greg followed him eagerly until they were inside. It was packed already. _The perks of cooler weather,_ Greg thought.

“Fine. Don’t tell me.” he rolled his eyes and walked silently next to him. Ryan ruffled his hair playfully and Greg couldn't stop himself from smiling. “Stop, I’m older than you.”

“And yet, less mature.”

“I highly doubt tha—“

Greg’s word stretched out into a massive yelp as he was shoved across Ryan and into the row of lockers. He slid down them, his bag falling off his back and glasses askew.

“Hey! What is your problem?!” Ryan shouted. Greg’s head was ringing. Being shoved into a locker was more painful than he thought, to be honest.

“Watch it, homos.” Someone sneered back. The people around them were quiet, watching. Greg held a hand to his head and watched as they marched off. _Football uniform. Why am I not surprised?_

Ryan grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. “Are you alright?”

“My head,” Greg said. 

“Are you bleeding?” Ryan started panicking.

“No, it just hurts,” Greg said sourly. “Let’s go. People are staring.”

He started walking off and Ryan followed, and slowly the crowd went back to its normal self. That wasn’t what he expected to happen on a Monday morning. Or any morning. The fact it was Monday made it so much worse. By the time they got to Greg’s locker, he was sure a lump would’ve formed somewhere on his head. He cast a scowl to his locker, the message still clearer than a new mirror. Ryan stared at it.

“I didn’t know this was a thing.”

“It’s been there for approximately two weeks, how did you not know?” Greg opened his locker. He had planned to abandon it but decided that it wasn’t worth carrying all his books everywhere he went. “A lot of people have been talking about it.”

“Who? I’ll fucking punch them.” Ryan looked around angrily, his fists raised.

“Your fist will start bleeding from the sheer amount of people you will have shoved your fist into,” Greg huffed. “Just let it be, okay? I’m fine.”

Ryan folded his arms. “I just don’t want you to get hurt again. Literally two minutes ago you were shoved into a locker.”

“Well, as you can see it’s highly likely that I’m going to get hurt again so I’m just gonna have to suck it up. We still have more than half our senior year left.” Greg slammed his locker door shut and fiddled with the lock until he gave up entirely. Ryan locked it instead and offered to shove the books into his bag, which Greg gladly took the offer. “I just need to last until Thanksgiving. That’s one and a half weeks. Then we get almost an entire week of freedom.”

“Four days,” said Ryan. “But I get what you mean.”

They heard the bell ring throughout the school and Greg checked his watch. “Let’s go to class.”

“Yay for English!” Ryan cheered sarcastically, clapping Greg’s shoulder.

Greg smiled a little. Today was already kind of sucky, but at least he had Ryan to make it better. In fact, all his friends made him feel better. At recess they tried their very best to distract him from the lump on his head and at lunch they pooled their money to buy him something from the cafeteria. It was sweet and not at all what he deserved, but he took it anyway. 

Another thing happened at lunch that Greg was both surprised and not surprised about. In all honesty, he knew this day would come but he was never expecting it to be so soon.

“Greg.”

He snapped out of his trance. “Mm?”

Colin smiled. “I, uh, _we_ need to tell you something.”

When he said ‘we’ he looked at Ryan. Ryan was decidedly not looking at Greg for some reason, but Greg didn’t say anything and instead waited for Colin to keep talking.

“Uh, we got talking over the weekend.” he continued. “And realised that after years of you forcing us to kiss during truth or dare that some feelings have started to, uh, spark.”

Was this happening? Was his dream finally coming true? His eyes widened in anticipation at what was coming and he looked between them eagerly. Ryan’s face was starting to turn red. Greg was certain it wasn’t makeup. Colin kept talking.

“So I guess what we’re saying is, is—“

“We’re together!” Ryan blurted out, a hot flush on his face. “There! I said it.”

Brad and Wayne started clapping furiously. Greg laughed. “I was always rootin’ for you two kids!”

“Yeah, well,” Ryan started, but then clearly didn’t know how to continue so he stopped.

“So you aren’t fucking with me? You’re hooking up?” Greg had a smile stuck on his face. This was all his and Jeff’s doing, surely. There was no way either of them was confident enough to do it themselves. He had to tell Jeff about this as soon as he got to his house that afternoon.

“Yes, why would we lie about this?” Ryan looked at him uncomfortably.

Greg shrugged. “You’ve done it before.”

Which they had. At some point last year, Ryan and Colin pretended to be a couple for one day. Of course, Greg didn’t realise that it was on April Fool’s day, so he thought they were being serious. They sold it really well. Why would they have kissed so passionately if it was fake?

“That was on April Fool’s day. Today is the fourteenth of November.” Colin told him. “And last I checked there isn’t a sequel to April Fool’s day.”

Brad looked at his watch as if it was a calendar. “Oh, I’ve got the dates wrong.”

“They told _us_ over the weekend,” Wayne said, bringing the conversation back to the happy couple. 

“And actually, we did call your house but your mom said you weren’t home,” Colin said. “But we told you now, so it doesn’t matter.”

Greg shrugged. “I was at Jeff’s all weekend.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Wayne smiled. Greg mirrored his smile and made a face that said ‘I don’t know.’ Wayne nudged him playfully and Greg giggled.

“You two are so sickly sweet and all over each other that I think _I_ might have a toothache,” Brad commented. 

Everyone else nodded and Greg scoffed. “Oh come on, it’s not that bad.”

Ryan, Brad and Wayne all looked between each other with knowing glances.

“Do it, or Greg and I will do it and make you all uncomfortable.” Brad mimicked Jeff’s voice, sitting up straighter.

Wayne made his voice more nasally and held his hand in a ‘gay’ way. “Oh yeah, we can get _very_ into it.”

“Has it been five minutes yet? Can I kiss my boyfriend?” Ryan pouted.

Greg hid his face and face-planted onto the table, blushing furiously. Okay sure, Halloween they were all over each other. But they were both very drunk. He heard the others laughing at him and continuing to impersonate his and Jeff’s relationship. He somehow blushed even more when they spoke about the ‘bite me in the neck’ incident. A horrible chill went up Greg’s neck and he made a choking noise, stopping the others from talking.

“We were both very drunk, so shut up,” Greg said, sitting up again and trying to defend himself and Jeff. The others rolled their eyes and kept on making fun of them.

 

“Honey, I’m home!” Greg called out.

Jeff almost jumped out of the bed, a hand on his forehead. “Jesus—how the hell did you get inside?”

“You do know you don’t live alone, right?” Greg smirked, placing his bag next to Jeff’s on the floor. He had already taken his shoes off by the door, as per usual, so he kneeled down at Jeff’s bedside and presented his hands.

“What’s this?” Jeff’s eyes were mostly closed and he yawned. He hadn’t sat up at all, instead choosing to stay snuggled into his pillow.

“Soup.”

“Soup?” Jeff’s eyes were suddenly open and he leaned towards the thermos. Greg smiled.

“Yes, I brought you tomato soup. For your cold.” Greg put it on the bedside table. “You look like Rudolph. It’s cute.”

Jeff touched his nose as if red would appear on his finger. “Oh. Well, I feel like death. I don’t think _that’s_ cute.”

“Have you been resting all day?” Greg sat on the bed, resting a hand on Jeff’s hip, which was currently underneath what felt like three blankets.

He nodded, still looking at the soup.

“Have you been drinking water?” Greg asked, looking around the room for any sign of a water bottle. Zilch. He looked back at Jeff disappointedly. “I’m getting you water. Don’t touch the soup.”

“Oh come on…” Jeff mumbled. “It’s teasing me.”

“I said no.” Greg got up and walked off to the kitchen. Even though he said not to touch the soup, he knew his boyfriend well. Jeff was touching the soup. Or at least looking inside and catching a whiff of it. Greg had to go home first so he could make it, but it was worth it. Plus, Jeff reacted like a dog getting a new toy when he heard the word ‘soup’.

The kitchen was as familiar as ever. It didn’t feel like he’d gone home last night. It actually felt like _this_ was his home and he was just staying the night at some hotel. It was only a couple of nights, but he felt so welcomed at Jeff’s house. He was actually included in the conversation and treated like the age he was. Something Greg believed was that you’d never really broken in a home until you’ve showered in it and on Friday night he ‘broke in the home’. He wasn’t alone, of course.

He smiled to himself just thinking about it. They didn’t do anything sexual, just the closeness was enough for them both. As he reminisced on just a few nights ago he grabbed two cups and filled them with water, taking them back to Jeff’s room where Jeff was indeed looking at the soup.

“What did I tell you?” Greg narrowed his eyebrows. “Not yet. Drink the water first.”

“You’re a very mean nurse.” Jeff pouted, taking the water and sipping from it.

“I’m your nurse now, am I?” Greg raised an eyebrow suggestively. “Well, Mr Davis, if you’re lucky I’ll give you a lollipop.”

Jeff giggled and reached for Greg’s arm so he could pull himself up. “I’ll be a good boy.”

“Yeah, you will.” Greg drank his water and placed the empty glass on the bedside table. Then he managed to scoot himself back against the wall, his legs over the top of Jeff’s. 

After a few peaceful moments of silence, Jeff cracked open the soup and started eating it. Or was it drinking? Greg never really knew since it was a liquid, but sometimes it had food in it so it was technically eating.

Greg looked at his boyfriend up and down, before focusing on his face. “Mouthbreather.”

Jeff scoffed, pausing from having another spoonful of soup. “Don’t be mean. I’m sick.”

“Aw, is your wittle nose bwocked?” Greg snickered. Jeff frowned at him and decided to ignore him, but Greg didn’t like to be ignored. “Don’t worry pumpkin, I still love ya.”

“You just called me a pumpkin.” Jeff’s voice was getting less croaky now that he’d had some water and was eating the soup. His nose was still bright red, however.

“So?” Greg said. “It’s one of my favourite vegetables.”

Jeff cocked his head to the side. “I thought it was a fruit.”

“How the hell would you think a pumpkin is a fruit?” Greg looked at him in wonder. 

“Because it has seeds on the inside!” Jeff argued. “That means it’s a fruit.”

Greg stared at him for ten whole seconds before shaking himself out of shock. “No. There’s no way. I don’t believe you.”

“Look in the dictionary if you don’t believe me.” Jeff said, his mouth half-full of tomato soup. He had a competitive eyebrow raised, and a smug look in his eyes. Greg squinted and jumped up, reaching towards Jeff’s shelf to grab his dictionary.

He leafed through the well-preserved pages until he found ‘fruit’.

“The sweet and fleshy product of a tree or other plant that contains seed and can be eaten as food.”

“Pumpkins contain seeds.” Jeff said pointedly, sneezing into his arm. Greg held in his laughter.

“I still don’t believe you.” Greg argued effortlessly. He flipped through until he found ‘pumpkin’, and this time he silently admitted defeat. He looked at Jeff with lidded eyes and put the book back without reading out the definition.

“What did it say?” Jeff finally finished his soup and triumphantly screwed the lid of the thermos back on.

“A large rounded orange-yellow fruit with a thick rind, the flesh of which can be used in sweet or savoury dishes.” Greg muttered, climbing back on the bed and onto Jeff.

Jeff nodded. “Point. Proven. Now do you believe me?”

“My whole life has been a lie.”

“Hey, just because you’ve never looked at the definition of pumpkins before, doesn’t mean you have to have an existential crisis.” Jeff said, turning and coughing away from Greg. 

Greg shuffled Jeff’s already messy hair. “Whatever. You’re still a pumpkin.”

“More like a tomato.” Jeff countered, intending to poke his own nose but tragically missing. Greg burst out laughing and he hugged Jeff.

“Oh my god.” he mumbled happily. “You’re a mess.”

“I’m not drunk, I swear.” Jeff muttered into Greg’s shoulder.

Greg looked down at him. “I know what you’re like drunk, so trust me, I know.”

“What am I like drunk?” Jeff asked, batting his eyelashes.

“Uh, like ten times more sexual than normal. And giggly and touchy.” Greg said. “But you dance really well.”

“Oh good,” He nodded. “At least I can dance.”

Greg cupped Jeff’s cheeks. “It is quite the show.”

Jeff smiled innocently at him, and was quiet for a few moments. He looked exhausted, and it made Greg wonder if he’d gotten any sleep last night. 

“Thank you for bringing me soup. And for coming here even though I’m contagious.” Jeff said quietly.

“It was my pleasure. As it always is.” Greg said. He let go of Jeff’s cheeks and adjusted himself so he was lying down against the pillow, and he opened his arms, inviting Jeff to cuddle with him. “Come here.”

Jeff eagerly—yet slowly still—moved himself so his head was resting on Greg’s chest and his leg was across Greg. 

“You’re so comfy,” Jeff mumbled sleepily, his eyes already closing. 

“I know.” Greg started stroking his hair. 

Jeff fell asleep rather quickly, which didn’t surprise Greg. He was tired from being sick. Greg just lay awake for a while, thinking. They’d almost been together for three months. He should probably do something cool for their ‘three month anniversary’ (Greg still didn’t think it was worth celebrating each month). 

His thoughts drifted away until he too fell asleep, which wasn’t a good thing.

He woke up and sleepily looking over at the clock, before almost throwing Jeff off him so he could scramble to get home. Jeff was too sleepy to care, really, so he gave Greg a quick kiss and let him go. By now it was far too cold for him to walk home, so he borrowed Jeff’s car.

He pulled into his driveway and rested his head on the steering wheel for a brief moment. Dad was already home. He was _screwed._ After deciding to take a few moments to mentally prepare himself, he quietly got out of the car and raised his fist to knock on the door. 

His mother opened the door—thank god—and he looked at her guiltily. Her eyebrows were narrowed so far they almost touched each other. Oh goodness no. He was about to die, he could feel it.

“You said you would be home straight after school, Gregory.” she forced out. “Where have you been?”

“I was at Jeff’s house.” he said honestly. 

“Where you were all weekend? Which may I remind ya is why yew were grounded in the first place?” she hissed, letting him inside. He stepped in lightly.

“Where’s dad?” he whispered, his eyes flitting around.

She folded her arms. “He’s in the shower. I recommend you get your ass into your room and don’t come outta there until the mornin’. Understand?”

He nodded quickly and dipped before she could say anything else. He definitely just managed to dodge a massive bullet. He closed his door as silently and slowly as possible before flicking the lock on it. To be honest, he didn’t know if that lock actually worked. But for now, he was going to pray that it did.

He shouldn’t be scared of his own dad, but he deliberately disobeyed him by doing the thing that got him in trouble in the first place. He sank down the door until he was curled up on the floor. He was a teenager. No, not even. He was an _adult_. He should be allowed to do whatever he wanted. So what if he stayed at a friend’s house for more than one night? He came back fine. That should be all that matters.

It would make more sense if his parents knew the truth. If they knew that Greg and Jeff were dating they might be a bit more lenient. Sara stays at her boyfriend’s house all the time, so maybe he should just tell them. After all, they might change their views once he comes out. They might realise their bigotry and accept him for being with Jeff. It was unlikely but there was still a chance. 

He stayed curled against the door for a long while. He heard when his dad got out of the shower, and his back tensed up like a snail retracting from a child’s finger when he walked past Greg’s room. His footsteps were heavy and from the way he was grumbling to himself he sounded like he was in a bad mood. Something about not enough hot water. Even though Greg was in his room (door closed) and his dad was in the living room, he could still hear his booming voice over the sound of the unnecessarily loud television. 

It didn’t sit well in Greg’s stomach and he had the overwhelming urge to cry, but he forced it in and refused to let the tears fall. Instead, he covered both his ears and tried to think of something else. 

“Doll! What’s for tea!” his voice carried. 

He couldn’t hear his mother’s reply, since she wasn’t yelling. 

“Oh, god.” Came his father’s voice. It sounded gruff and unhappy. “Whatever. Just get me a beer, please.”

Greg pressed his hands closer to his ears and furrowed his brow. This wasn’t working. He balled his fist and punched the ground angrily before silently cursing himself. The floor was a lot harder than it looked. While he nursed his hand he looked around the room. 

He stood and walked over to his desk. Above it, hanging on the wall, was a cork board with photos tacked into it. His eyes automatically went to the polaroid of him and Jeff, but just above it was a photo of Sara and himself as young children. They were posed dramatically; Greg was sitting on a chair, one leg crossed over the other and his hands on his knee, with Sara leaning on the chair. He was probably around six in the photo, which meant Sara was nine. They both looked adorable. The young version Greg was wearing a cute little black suit—of course, wearing big, round glasses—and Sara was wearing a pair of black slacks and a white shirt that was tucked in. Her hair was blonde and draped off to one side. A sudden wave of nostalgia washed over him. They always fought, as siblings do, but they’ve also always gotten along at the best of times. 

He smiled a little and his back released a bit. Unfortunately not for long, because once again his dad’s booming voice rang throughout the house only this time, it was a lot closer.

“I have to do everything myself around here! I don’t get ANY respect!” he yelled. Greg held his breath and listened. He was fumbling around the alcohol cabinet. This wasn’t a good sign. There was a final clink and the unmistakable sound of a cork popping resonated in Greg’s ears.

For a moment he thought that maybe his father would walk away, but Greg barely had any time to react as the door was thrust open. He jumped about a foot in the air and clutched his heart. 

“You!”

Greg almost— _almost_ —squeaked. “Y-yes?”

“Where have you been?!” his voice was still loud and offensive, and it got worse as he stepped closer. Greg didn’t dare look at him in the face, instead choosing to look at the open bottle of champagne in his hand. 

“H-here, in, in my room.” Greg swallowed.

“Don’t lie to me, boy!” 

Greg yelped as his dad grabbed a fistful of Greg’s shirt and forced him to stand on his tiptoes. Greg struggled, panic flowing fast through his bloodstream now. _Ohgodohgodohgodohgod—_

“I’m—I’m not lying!” Greg tried to pry his dad’s hands from his shirt but they only tightened. Greg finally looked at him in the eyes and he stopped doing _everything_. His breathing was quick and he wanted nothing more than to die, right there. His dad’s eyebrows almost met in the middle and he bared his teeth.

“Oh, yes, you, are.” He growled. “You didn’t come home after school, I know you didn’t!”

He took a massive swig of champagne, and Greg started struggling again. His anxiety was circulating in his face and lower back and he was starting to hyperventilate. He was literally about to have a panic attack here, in the grip of his steadily tipsy father. His head darted around, looking for a way to get out of this mess.

_Hang on, I could just slip out of the shirt!_ He thought suddenly, and he quickly manoeuvred himself so he was out of the shirt. Terrified, he stumbled, now shirtless, away from his dad, who whirled around at him with fire clear in his face. Greg started praying, despite the fact that he didn’t believe in any holy deities.

His dad looked him up and down. “What’s this shit on your chest and stomach?”

Greg’s heart almost jumped right out of his chest, and not in a good way. He looked down at himself and realised he’d forgotten that on the weekend Jeff had, in fact, become a vampire. There were lovebites _everywhere._

“I-I don’t know,” he lied, blinking profusely. His dad somehow looked even angrier and he was about to stomp over to him, but he looked up at the door instead.

“Dad! What the fuck are you doing?” Sara suddenly yelled from the doorway. “Leave him the fuck alone!”

She stormed in and ripped Greg’s shirt from their dad’s grasp and ushered him out, muttering profanities under her breath. Greg covered his ears and shut his eyes, cowering down onto the floor. Sara’s arms curled protectively around him. 

“Shhh, he’s gone.” Sara whispered. “Calm down.”

Greg slowly opened his eyes and tried to form words but he couldn’t, he was shaking too much.

“Here, put your shirt on.”

Greg didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the shirt and put it on at lightning speed. Then he tucked his head between his legs and held his breath. Sara stayed right next to him, except for when she got up and closed the door, which Greg was extremely thankful for.

After a while Greg’s breathing was back to almost normal, so he lifted his head and sighed. Even though he hadn’t cried his eyes felt puffy and his throat felt as if it had a lump in it.

“Are you good?” Sara touched his arm. He flinched a little.

“Yeah, yeah.” he said quickly. “Uh, I just want to go home.”

Sara looked around and laughed a little. “Greg, you are home.”

_Shit._ He thought. “Uh, I mean, Jeff’s house.”

“But weren’t you just there? And isn’t that why you were grounded?”

“Look, I don’t want to get into the gritty details, alright?” he said shakily. “I just, I want my boyfriend.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “Well, for now, I’m your boyfriend. Here, come hug me.”

Greg gave her a disgusted look, but she insisted, so he scooted just a little bit closer and hugged her. It was surprisingly nice. He sank into her and the same wave of nostalgia washed over him from before. He felt his eyes start to water so he let go and fanned his face so he wouldn’t cry.

“Thanks.”

“He’s a real dickhead, you know that right?” Sara commented. “He was barely tipsy.”

Greg felt his throat tighten. “I hate him.”

“Oh, I think everyone does.” Sara raised her eyebrow in a meaningful way. “Especially the other church-goers. They gossip about him behind his back, it’s actually quite funny.”

Greg laughed a little and he covered his mouth. “That is kinda funny.”

“It just means you’re not alone in your hatred.” Sara reassured him. “Anyway, I’m going to bed. Shove your bookshelf in front of the door if you want, you’ll feel safer. Trust me, I know.”

Greg didn’t know what she meant by that last comment, but he took her advice to heart and once she left he managed to force his bookshelf in front of the door so it wouldn’t open. It did mean a lot of trouble in the morning but for now, it was the only way he felt comfortable.

That wasn’t the first time his dad had gone ape mode on him. It didn’t happen a lot, but it happened more than it should. Which is never, but sometimes Greg felt like he deserved it because he did something bad. Like tonight. He deliberately disobeyed his dad’s direct orders to be at home straight after school. He should’ve known he would’ve been punished. 

He crawled into his bed and curled up tight, praying to anyone that that door would stay closed _all_ night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh, i only added the pumpkin fruit/vegetable thing because i was curious and didn't get the answer i was expecting
> 
> https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/is-pumpkin-a-fruit


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